Emma Heming Willis knew there was something not right with her husband Bruce Willis long before he was diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia (FTD) in 2023, but assumed it was related to a hearing problem stemming from the actor’s role in Die Hard.
Speaking to Fox News Digital about the release of her new book, The Unexpected Journey: Finding Strength, Hope, and Yourself on the Caregiving Path, Emma revealed how her husband lost a “huge percentage of his hearing” while filming the classic 1988 action movie.
“When Bruce was shooting the first Die Hard, he shot a gun underneath a table multiple times, and they didn’t have him wear any kind of ear protection,” she told the outlet. “That took out a huge percentage of his hearing. And over time, for all of us as we age, our hearing starts to go a bit.”
“That’s what I thought was happening,” she continued, noting that she put their communication issues down to Bruce “not hearing” her properly.
Bruce Willis in Die Hard
TM & Copyright (c) 20th Century Fox Film Corp.
According to Fox News Digital, in the book, Emma writes that Bruce’s hearing problems never posed an issue when they first got together; the couple married in 2009. However, she noticed Bruce starting to “check out” during family dinners, which she initially thought was him letting his three older daughters (whom he shares with ex-wife Demi Moore) “yak it up” and have “girl talk.”
“I assumed his hearing loss made it easier for him to melt into his seat with his hands clasped gently on his lap,” Emma writes in the book, which details her experiences as Bruce’s wife and caregiver.
In addition to the hearing loss, Emma thought the Armageddon actor’s increasing problems could have been related to a severe childhood stutter. The former model noted how Bruce “figured out how to work with that stutter” in college and found ways to manage it in his day-to-day life.
“And for me, some of the first signs were noticing that his stutter was coming back,” she told Fox News Digital. “And … our relationship just felt very different. It all felt very different. Our conversations and our connection just felt off. It was really hard for me to understand why or what was happening to be able to put my finger on it.”
Despite doctors not spotting any health concerns and Bruce not “flagging” any changes, Emma couldn’t shake the feeling that something more was going on and eventually approached a doctor about it.
“I think that’s so important for other caregivers as well. We know our person better than anybody. It’s important for us that we know it’s okay, and we should feel it’s empowering to go to our loved one’s doctor and say, ‘Something is not right, and I really need you to listen to me. Hear me,’” she explained.
She added, “I never realized, or would’ve ever thought, or have known, that this sort of lack of empathy was a symptom of young dementia.”
Bruce’s family first announced his aphasia diagnosis in 2022 before revealing the FTD diagnosis almost a year later. Since then, Emma has become an advocate for talking about the disease, offering help and guidance to others going through the same situation.
Speaking on her current relationship with Bruce, with whom she shares two daughters, Emma said, “Our lives are not over. Even with the diagnosis, the person is still human. There is still so much joy and so much laughter that we share with Bruce. We’re just in a different phase, a different chapter of our lives with him.”
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