Bruce Willis’ wife, Emma Heming Willis, is opening up about how an early stutter she suffered may have masked the initial symptoms of her frontotemporal dementia (FTD).
In a new interview with City and countrysideEmma revealed that the 69-year-old film icon had difficulty speaking at the beginning of his cognitive decline, but initially took that as a recurrence of the “severe stuttering” he had dealt with during his teenage years.
In 2022, she and the rest of her family announced that she had been diagnosed with aphasia and would be retiring from acting.
The following year, the family announced that the Pulp Fiction actor had been diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia, of which aphasia is a common symptom.
“For Bruce, it all started with language,” the 46-year-old model explained in her interview published Tuesday.
Bruce Willis’ wife, Emma Heming Willis, opens up about how an early stutter she suffered may have masked the initial symptoms of her frontotemporal dementia (FTD); photographed in 2018 in Los Angeles
Emma told Town & Country that Bruce, 69, had difficulty speaking at the beginning of his cognitive decline, but she initially considered it to be a recurrence of the “severe stuttering” he had struggled with during his teenage years. ; seen on Tuesday at the 2024 WWD Honors in New York
He said his childhood had been marred by his “severe stuttering”, until a university drama professor opened up a new world of opportunities.
While studying acting, Bruce learned that the stutter that was so prominent in his own speech disappeared almost magically whenever he spoke words he had memorized from a script.
“That’s what drove him to act,” Emma said.
He added that he continued to deal with stuttering throughout his life, although he developed the ability to conceal it well in most situations.
However, that persistent stuttering made it difficult for her to realize that something was seriously wrong with her husband’s language skills in the early stages of his decline.
“When his language started changing, (it seemed like) it was just part of a stutter, it was just Bruce,” he shared. “Never in a million years would I have thought that this would be a form of dementia for someone so young.”
In John Parker’s 1997 Bruce Willis: The Unauthorized Biography, the Die Hard actor was quoted as saying, “He could barely talk.” It took me three minutes to complete one sentence,” via Los Angeles Times. ‘However, when I became another character, in a play, I lost my stuttering. It was phenomenal.’
Bruce was honored for his advocacy for those living with stuttering at the 2016 American Institute for Stuttering Gala.
“When his language started changing, (it seemed like) it was just part of a stutter, it was just Bruce,” he shared. “Never in a million years would I think it would be a form of dementia for someone so young.”
Emma said it was difficult; seen with Emma (left), his ex-wife Demi Moore (second right) and their daughters (left – right) Rumer, Tallulah and Scout.
Willis previously said that acting helped him overcome his stutter, as he could recite memorized lines without stuttering. He later worked with speech therapists at university; photographed in 2018 in Los Angeles
He was joined by a fellow stutterer, then-Vice President Joe Biden, as his wife Emma honored him at the ceremony.
In his acceptance speech, the actor revealed that he started stuttering around age six, saying that he had “no plan, no help” and that he “was just flailing around wildly for a long time,” according to The Hollywood Reporter.
After his breakthrough as an actor, Willis worked with speech therapists to further suppress his stuttering while attending Montclair State University in New Jersey.
In the same Town & Country interview, Emma revealed that she and Bruce’s two young daughters, Mabel, 12, and Evelyn, 10, began noticing signs of cognitive decline before he was officially diagnosed with dementia.
“I’ve never tried to sugarcoat anything for them,” he said. ‘They have grown up with Bruce declining over the years. I’m not trying to protect you from it.
According to her, honesty was an essential component in helping her daughters cope with their father’s deteriorating condition.
“What I learned from our therapist was that if children ask questions, they are ready to know the answer,” she shared.
Bruce’s diagnosis is terminal, with no hope of recovery or significant improvement, but Emma didn’t admit she was hesitant to highlight that fact with her daughters.
In the same Town & Country interview, Emma revealed that she and Bruce’s two young daughters, Mabel, 12, and Evelyn, 10, began noticing signs of cognitive decline before he was officially diagnosed with dementia.
Emma said she has avoided talking about the “terminal” nature of Bruce’s condition with her daughters, but “they know daddy’s not going to get better.”
Emma looked transcendent in a beige suit dress with pointed lapels at the 2024 WWD Honors in New York on Tuesday.
‘If we could see that Bruce was struggling, I would discuss it with the children so they could understand, but this illness is chronic, progressive and terminal. There is no cure,’ he stated. “Obviously, I don’t like to talk to them about the terminal aspect of this, nor have they asked me.”
And he added in a somber tone: “They know that dad is not going to get better.”
Although her daughters were aware of their father’s symptoms, Emma struggled to pinpoint exactly when she began suffering from FTD, due to the subtle and gradual accumulation of symptoms.
“I say FTD whispers, it doesn’t scream,” he said, before explaining: “It’s hard for me to say, ‘This is where Bruce ended up and this is where his illness started to take over.'”