Bruce Willis’ wife, Emma Heming Willis, has shared a deeply emotional update on the actor’s health as he continues to battle frontotemporal dementia, a diagnosis he received in 2023.
In a preview of her interview with Diane Sawyer, airing Tuesday night on ABC, Emma, 47, spoke candidly about the 70-year-old actor’s condition, revealing both heartbreaking and hopeful moments in their journey.
“Bruce is still very mobile,” Emma said. “Bruce is in really great health overall, you know.” However, she added, “It’s just his brain that is failing him.”
Emma, who shares daughters Mabel, 13, and Evelyn, 11, with Willis, described how his ability to communicate has been fading.
“His language is going, and we’ve learned to adapt to communicate with him in a different way,” she explained.
When asked by Sawyer, 79, whether there are moments when it feels like Bruce again, Emma replied: “We still get those days. Not days, but we get moments. It’s his laugh, right? Like, he has such, like, a hearty laugh… sometimes you’ll see that twinkle in his eye, or that smirk, and I just get, like, transported.”
Fighting back tears, she added: “It’s just hard to see, because as quickly as those moments appear, then it goes. It’s hard. But I’m grateful… I’m grateful that my husband is still very much here.”
Reflecting on when doctors first gave the diagnosis, Emma recalled feeling overwhelmed:
“To leave there with nothing, just nothing, with a diagnosis I couldn’t pronounce… I was so panicked. I remember hearing it and not hearing anything else. I was free falling.”
She also noted that she doesn’t believe Bruce “ever really connected the dots” about his condition.
Emma revealed that before his official diagnosis, Willis had started showing subtle but troubling signs. “For someone who was very talkative and very engaged, he was just a little more quiet,” she said. “When the family would get together, he would just melt a little bit… It felt a little removed, very cold, not like Bruce, who was very warm and affectionate. To go the complete opposite of that was alarming and scary.”
Willis was first diagnosed with aphasia in 2022, which led to his retirement from acting. The following year, his family including ex-wife Demi Moore and their daughters Rumer, Scout, and Tallulah announced that he had developed frontotemporal dementia, a rare and debilitating brain disorder.
“While this is painful, it is a relief to finally have a clear diagnosis,” the family said at the time.
Emma Heming Willis spoke with me about her family’s new reality after Bruce Willis’ frontotemporal dementia diagnosis and her evolving role as his care partner.
Catch a first look Tuesday morning on @GMA , with the full special airing Tuesday at 8 PM ET on @ABC . pic.twitter.com/3v1LQudQdo
— Diane Sawyer (@DianeSawyer) August 25, 2025
