Bruce Willis has not been diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia, his wife Emma Heming Willis revealed in an interview on the podcast Unexpected Journey (via TMZ).
“I think they think this is their normal,” she explained. “There’s a term for the neurological symptoms that accompany FTD and other types of dementia. It’s called anosognosia, where the brain doesn’t know what’s happening to you. People think this is denial. For example, if you go to the doctor because ‘I’m fine,’ Actually…it has to do with anosognosia…Bruce never connected the dots that he had this disease. I’m really glad he didn’t know that.”
The actor’s wife continued. “He’s still very much present in my body…When someone says to me, ‘Does Bruce know who you are yet?’ Yes, he doesn’t have Alzheimer’s, he has FTD. He has a way of connecting with me and our kids. It may not be the same as you connect with your loved one, but it’s still very beautiful and meaningful. It’s just different. You just learn how to adapt.”
Willis’ family announced in 2022 that he had been diagnosed with aphasia. Aphasia is a language disorder caused by brain damage that affects a person’s ability to communicate. A year later, in February 2023, the family announced that the diagnosis had evolved to frontotemporal dementia, writing on social media: “This is painful, but we are relieved to finally have a clear diagnosis.”
Sitting down for an interview with ABC News’ Diane Sawyer last August, Hemming Willis said, “Bruce is still very mobile. Bruce is overall very healthy, you know, it’s just his brain that’s declining…Language is progressing and, you know, we’ve learned to adapt. And we have a way to communicate with him, it’s just…a different way.”
Hemming Willis told Sawyer at the time that he first noticed something was wrong when Bruce, although normally “very talkative and enthusiastic,” started acting “a little quiet” in social situations.
“When the family got together, he just kind of melted down,” she explained. “He felt a little alienated and very cold. It wasn’t like Bruce, who was very warm and loving. To be the exact opposite of that was alarming and scary.”
Watch the full interview with Hemming Willis on the podcast The Unexpected Journey in the video below.
