On Oct. 28, Bruce Willis's security chauffeured him around Studio City, L.A. The 69-year-old "Die Hard" star, who has frontotemporal dementia, smiled out his open passenger-side window while wearing a black L.A. Dodgers baseball cap.
The actor and his family, including his wife of 15 years, Emma Heming, their two daughters, Mabel, 12, and Evelyn, 10, and his older children, Rumer, 36, Scout, 33, and 30-year-old Tallulah, his daughters with ex-wife Demi Moore, have struggled for years, as per PEOPLE Magazine.
His distraught family learned about his rare and incurable FTD diagnosis in February 2023. It affects language and motor skills. Emma, 46, told Town & Country Magazine that she's trying to stay positive while supporting Bruce and their two young children in a devastating interview.
"I'm trying to find that balance between the grief and the sadness that I feel which can just crack open at any given moment," she said. "And finding joy."
Emma, who has spoken up about the sickness and is writing a book about her time as Bruce's caregiver, said she's not sugarcoating his position for her daughters.
"They've grown up with Bruce declining over the years. I'm not trying to shield them from it," she told the magazine, noting that she answers questions honestly when they arise.
"Obviously, I don't like to speak about the terminal side of this with them, nor have they asked," she said. "They know that Daddy's not going to get better."
Emma claimed Bruce wouldn't want her to let FTD destroy their family and that Mabel and Evelyn would witness her fight for their family, have hope, and help the next family. She's adapting to their new world, something she didn't expect.
"We had so many plans, so many beautiful things we wanted to do," she explained. "You just rip that page out completely, and then how do you rewrite the story? I'm learning how to take some control back. It might not be the most beautiful story I could have thought of, but there are cracks of light."
Her stepdaughters console her greatly.
A source close to the situation told Star Magazine that Rumer frequently brings her daughter Lou, who is 18 months old, to visit and spend time with her father and her younger sisters. There is a great deal of affection in the house.
More importantly, she encourages Mabel and Evelyn to discuss their feelings, the insider said.
"I'm so thankful that we are this blended family," Emma said. Demi, 61, has stayed close with Bruce since their 1998 split and is also part of Emma's circle of support.
A close family acquaintance says Bruce is stable, saying, "He has a daily routine of getting up, moving around and getting plenty of time outdoors. The objective is always to keep him happy, smiling and willing to get out of bed in the morning."
Emma claimed Bruce's progressing FTD began in his temporal lobes and extended to his frontal lobe, adding, "it attacks and destroys a person's ability to walk, think, make decisions."
She said his terrible childhood stutter had resurfaced before his diagnosis, suggesting something was wrong. "Never in a million years would I think it would be a form of dementia for someone so young," she added.
Emma and the kids are attempting to stay positive as the holidays approach. Being so accustomed to this new normal makes it easy for the family to enjoy a joyful holiday season, according to a friend of the family.
The insider also mentioned that they do not know how much longer Bruce will be alive, so they are making an effort to appreciate the memories they already have and to build new ones while they still have the opportunity to do so.
Business Times reached out to Bruce Willis for comments.
