Rumer Willis says her father, Bruce Willis, has learned “kindness” through his battle with dementia.
“I’m so grateful that I got to go and meet him,” the actress said in an on-camera interview for Monday’s edition of The Inside Edit.
“It’s different now, but I’m so grateful,” she continued. “There’s a tenderness. He’s always been this kind of macho guy. And there’s a kind of tenderness that being Bruce Willis might not have allowed him in some ways, although fragile is not the right word.”
Rumer, 37, also said she had “no idea” how “prevalent” the progressive neurological disease was until her father was diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia (FTD).
“That’s wild to me,” she told host Maeve Riley during the discussion. “So many people now come up to me and say, ‘My uncle had FTD. My father had FTD.'”
Rumer gave birth to her first child, daughter Louetta, in April 2018 with Derek Richard Thomas, who she split from a year later, and is the eldest child of Bruce, 71, and ex-wife Demi Moore.
The Die Hard actor shares daughters Scout, 34, and Talulah, 32, with Moore, 63, and daughters Mabel, 14, and Evelyn, 12, with his current wife Emma Heming Willis.
Despite divorcing in 2000, Bruce and the “Substance” actress remain on good terms.
On the action star’s birthday in March, Moore paid a sweet tribute to his ex on social media, writing, “All I need is love. Happy Birthday, BW! ♥️.”
Bruce’s family announced in 2022 that he would retire from acting after being diagnosed with aphasia.
Almost a year later, his battle with FTD came to light through a statement on the Frontotemporal Degeneration Association website.
At the time, his family called the disease a “cruel disease” that “anyone could contract” and wrote, “Although it is painful, we are relieved to finally have a clear diagnosis.”
“FTD is likely to be much more prevalent than we know, as it is the most common form of dementia in people under 60 and can take years to be diagnosed,” the researchers added.
Bruce’s family also said that if he is able to respond to his situation, he would like to respond by “bringing global attention and connection to those who are also battling this debilitating disease and showing how it affects so many individuals and their families.”
Meanwhile, Rumer and her sisters regularly get a peek into their loving family life as their father continues to battle FTD.
In November, the mother of one posted a heartbreaking update about her famous father on her Instagram Stories.
When a follower asked how her father was doing, Rumer replied: “It’s hard to answer because everyone with FTD doesn’t do very well.”
She added in the upload that Bruce is “doing okay as someone battling frontotemporal dementia” and said that while “these factors” are influencing how he views his father’s ongoing battle, he is “so happy and grateful” to still be able to “hug” him.
