Bruce Willis‘ marry, Emma Heming Willisexplained how aware the actor is of his battle with dementia.
“Bruce was never, ever exploitative,” Emma, 47, said during the Wednesday, January 28, episode. the “Conversations with Cam” podcastexplaining that Bruce, 70, “never connected the dots” about his diagnosis of frontotemporal dementia.
Emma noted that it was for the bestadding, “I think that’s like the blessing and the curse of it all is that he never connected the dots and that he had this disease, and I’m really happy about that. I’m really happy he didn’t know.”
Bruce suffers from anosognosia, which the Cleveland Clinic defines as the brain being unable to recognize one or more other health conditions a person has. This is common among people with mental health disorders.
Emma explained that Bruce’s “brain can’t identify what’s happening to him,” noting that people with anosognosia “think this is their normal.”
“People think it might be denial, like they don’t want to go to the doctor because they’re like, ‘I’m fine, I’m fine.’ In fact, it’s anosognosia that comes into play,” she continued. “It’s not a denial. It’s just that their brain is changing. It’s part of the disease.”
According to Emma, Bruce is “still very present in his body” despite the progressive nature of his dementia. “We have progressed with him,” she said. “We adapted with him.”
Emma, who shares daughters Mabel, 13, and Evelyn, 11, with Bruce, thought about how their family has adjusted. (Bruce also shares daughters Rumer, 37, Scout, 34, and Tallulah, 31, with his ex-wife Demi Moore.)
“He has a way of connecting with me, our children, that maybe isn’t the same way you might have with your loved one. But it’s still very beautiful,” Emma said Tuesday. “It’s still very meaningful. It’s just… it’s just different. You just have to learn to adapt.”
Bruce’s family initially revealed in March 2022 that he had been diagnosed with the language disorder aphasia. They then announced that he suffered from frontotemporal dementia.
Bruce Willis loves having a blended family. The Die Hard actor was married to Demi Moore from 1987 to 2000 and the couple had two daughters, Rumer, Scout and Tallulah, in 1988, 1991 and 1994 respectively. After his separation from Moore in 2000, Willis married Emma Heming Willis in 2009. The couple […]
“This is a truly difficult time for our family and we so appreciate your continued love, compassion and support,” read a statement shared in 2023. “We are going through this time as a strong family unit and we wanted to bring his fans out because we know how much he means to you, as you do to him. As Bruce always says, ‘Live it’ and together we plan to do just that.”
While caring for her husband, Emma has been candid about how the couple’s life changedincluding the choice to no longer live together.
“These are tough decisions. These are impossible decisions. I’m tired of thinking about them. These are impossible decisions. This is not how I envisioned our life,” Emma said at the End Well 2025 conference in Los Angeles in November 2025. “I had to make the best and safest decision for our family and I knew that by being honest and open about it, it would bring a lot of judgment.”
Emma clapped back at critics who questioned her and Bruce live in separate housesemphasizing that she received support from Bruce’s family.
“Because they know, they’re in it and I have this beautiful blended family,” she continued. “I also have Bruce’s mother who is 90 years old. I have Bruce’s brother, sister and cousins and they have been very loving, supportive and non-judgmental.”
