Emma Heming shared further insight into the progression of her husband Bruce Willis’ frontotemporal dementia battle on Wednesday in a candid conversation about the Die Hard actor. Bruce was first diagnosed with aphasia in 2022, which is a disorder affecting communication, and retired from his decades-long acting career as a result.
He was then diagnosed with FTD a year later, and his condition has steadily worsened since. FTD is a progressive brain disorder causing the frontal and temporal lobes to shrink, and affects behavior, personality, movement and communication.
Emma revealed on the Conversations with Cam podcast that Bruce was never aware that he was suffering from FTD, which is common for people with mental health disorders. “There’s this neurological condition that comes with FTD, and other types of dementia as well, called anosognosia, where your brain can’t identify what is happening to it,” she explained.
“So where people think this might be denial – like they don’t want to go to the doctor, because they’re like ‘I’m fine, I’m fine’ – actually, this is the anosognosia that comes into play.”
“It’s not denial. It’s just that their brain is changing. This is a part of the disease,” she continued. The former model, who married Bruce in 2009, added that she was happy her husband never realized what was happening to him.
“I think that’s the blessing and the curse of this. Bruce never tapped in. He never connected the dots that he had this disease, and I’m really happy about that. I’m really happy that he doesn’t know about it,” she explained.
© InstagramEmma added that Bruce mostly suffered from communication problems, rather than behavioral issues like impulsivity and apathy. The 70-year-old also retained his memory and is still aware of who Emma and their daughters Mabel and Evelyn are. “He’s still very much present in his body,” she said in the interview.
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“He has a way of connecting with me [and] our children that might not be the same as you would connect with your loved one, but it’s still very beautiful. It’s still very meaningful. It’s just different. You just learn how to adapt and meet them where they are at.”
Emma is a fierce activist for FTD research and often speaks out about the difficulties of being a caregiver. She published her book, The Unexpected Journey, in 2025, and shared insight into some of the heartbreaking decisions she was forced to make following his diagnosis, including the choice to move Bruce into a separate home where he could receive around-the-clock care.
© InstagramThe decision came from Bruce’s need for a quiet, calm space, which meant that Mabel, 13, and Evelyn, 11, couldn’t enjoy time with friends or play around the house. “Bruce wouldn’t want his two young daughters to be clouded by his disease,” she said on the podcast.
© Instagram“I know that. They weren’t having sleepovers, playdates. We weren’t inviting people over. I isolated all of us, and that was just a really hard time,” Emma continued.
“So the decision didn’t come lightly, but it was the right one for our family. And I can see the benefits from it. Our children are thriving, and so is Bruce.” The A-lister is also a father to three daughters with his ex-wife, Demi Moore: Rumer, 37, Scout, 34, and Tallulah, 31.
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