Bruce Willis’ wife, Emma Heming, admitted that she questioned the state of their marriage before the actor was diagnosed with dementia.
“For someone who is very talkative and very engaged, he was a little more quiet,” Heming, 49, explained in a new interview with ABC News’ Diane Sawyer.
“And when the family would get together, he’d just melt a little bit.”
The mom of two initially thought the “Sixth Sense” actor, 70, was having issues with his hearing, which was partially lost during the filming of the first “Die Hard” movie.
“He felt a little removed, a little cold, not like Bruce, who is very warm and affectionate,” she recalled.
“To go the complete opposite of that was alarming and scary. I didn’t understand what was happening and I thought just, like, ‘How can I remain in a marriage that doesn’t feel like what we had?’” Heming added.
Heming said she and Willis had “conversations” about their issues, but the action star would “dismiss” them.
Once doctors issued Willis’ diagnosis, his family received the news that there was no cure and nothing more they could do.
“To leave there with no … nothing, just nothing. With a diagnosis I couldn’t pronounce. I didn’t understand what it was,” she said.
“I was so panicked. I just remember hearing it and just not hearing anything else. It was like I was free-falling.”
In March 2022, the Willis family announced that the “Fifth Element” star would be stepping away from acting after he was diagnosed with aphasia.
The following February, the action star’s family said he was battling frontotemporal dementia, which affects a person’s speech, personality and behavior.
Heming, who shares daughters Mabel, 13, and Evelyn, 11, with Willis, said her husband is losing his speech. However, she and the rest of his family are adapting.
“We have a way of communicating with him, which is just a different way,” she told Saywer, 79.
Bruce also shares daughters Rumer Willis, 37, Scout Willis, 34, and Tallulah Willis, 31, with his ex-wife, Demi Moore.
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