Emma Heming Willis, the wife of Bruce Willis, is talking candidly about the early changes she saw in her husband that resulted in his 60s frontotemporal dementia (FTD) diagnosis.

“For Bruce, it started with language,” 46-year-old Heming Willis disclosed in a recent Town & Country interview.When he was younger, he stutteringly stumbled a lot. When he was a college student, a theater instructor told him, “I have something that will help you.” Bruce learned from the lesson that he could learn a screenplay by heart and recite it without stuttering. That’s what inspired him to pursue acting.

She went on to say that the “Die Hard” franchise star “has always had a stutter but he has been good at covering it up.”

Heming Willis was unaware that Willis’s altered speech, now 69, was an early warning indication of a dangerous medical condition.In West Hollywood, California, on March 2, 2014, actor Bruce Willis and his spouse Emma Heming arrive at the 2014 Vanity Fair Oscars Party.

“As his language began to change, it appeared to be merely a stutter; it was just Bruce. I never would have imagined that it would be dementia in such a young person,” she remarked.

Heming Willis stated that it took a number of years for Willis to receive a proper diagnosis of FTD, pointing out that the illness is frequently “missed,” “misdiagnosed,” or “misunderstood.”

FTD, in my opinion, whispers rather than yells. Saying, “This is where Bruce finished, and this is where his disease started to take over,” is difficult for me,” she remarked.

After first declaring in March 2022 that Willis would retire from acting after receiving a diagnosis of aphasia, a disorder that impairs a person’s capacity to communicate and comprehend spoken and written language, his family later disclosed in February 2023 that he had been diagnosed with FTD.

The actor’s older children from his first marriage to Demi Moore, Rumer, 36, Scout, 33, and Tallulah, 30, have been a part of his caregiving team since the beginning, according to Heming Willis, who has daughters with Willis, Mabel, 12, and Evelyn, 10.

Heming Willis stated, “The family really supports me and respects the way I’m taking care of him.” “They are always available to listen if I need to vent, cry, or get angry because those emotions are normal and it’s acceptable to feel that way.

“I’m incredibly grateful that we are a blended family. They are incredibly helpful, loving, and supporting, qualities that many individuals lack.”

More than a year after Tallulah Willis wrote an emotional piece for Vogue recalling how she had first noticed the early symptoms of her father’s dementia, Heming Willis made comments regarding Willis’ diagnosis.

Before her father’s diagnosis, the younger Willis clarified that she had had a “long time” suspicion that anything was off with his health.

“The family attributed the initial lack of response to Hollywood hearing loss: ‘Speak up! ‘Die Hard’ messed with Dad’s ears,'” she wrote. Later on, that lack of response was more widespread, and I occasionally took it personally. I believed he had lost interest in me after he had two children with my stepmother, Emma Heming Willis.

Tallulah Willis became aware that her father was “quietly struggling,” too, as she dealt with her own health issues, which included borderline personality disorder, ADHD, and anorexia nervosa.

“A variety of cognitive tests were being carried out, but we still lacked an acronym,” she stated.

Tallulah Willis became “painfully” aware of her father’s deteriorating health by the summer of 2021. While listening to the bride’s father’s speech during a wedding on Martha’s Vineyard, she came to this revelation.

“All of a sudden, I understood that I would never get to hear my father talk about me as an adult at my wedding. It was heartbreaking,” she remembered. “I walked outside and sobbed in the bushes after leaving the dinner table.”

Tallulah Willis, who is now recuperating from her medical issues, claimed that she is better equipped to bring happiness to her well-known father. “No matter where I’ve been, I can bring him a bright and sunny energy,” she stated.