Emma Heming has shared new details about the progression of her husband Bruce Willis’ battle with frontotemporal dementia (FTD), saying the actor was never aware that he was suffering from the disease.
Speaking on the Conversations with Cam podcast on Wednesday, Heming offered an account of Willis’ condition and how it has affected him since his diagnosis.
Willis was first diagnosed with aphasia in 2022, a neurological disorder that impairs communication, prompting his retirement from acting after a career spanning several decades. A year later, his family revealed that his condition had progressed and that he had been diagnosed with FTD, a degenerative brain disorder that causes the frontal and temporal lobes to shrink.
Heming explained that Willis never fully understood what was happening to him. “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 said, adding, “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,” Heming continued.
Heming, who married Willis in 2009, said she views his lack of awareness as both a “blessing and a curse” adding that she is grateful he never realised the full extent of his illness. “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 added that Willis’ symptoms have largely been communication difficulties rather than behavioral changes. Despite his condition, the 70-year-old actor has retained his memory and remains aware of his family, including Heming and their two daughters, Mabel and Evelyn.
“He's still very much present in his body,” she said.