Emma Heming Willis, wife of legendary actor Bruce Willis, is opening up about how her husband tried to keep working even as he faced frontotemporal dementia (FTD). In her new book, The Unexpected Journey: Finding Strength, Hope, and Yourself on the Caregiving Path, she shares how Bruce managed to stay on set as his health changed.
Bruce’s family announced his FTD diagnosis in February 2023, after he was first diagnosed with aphasia in 2022. Aphasia is a condition that makes it hard to speak, read, or write. FTD is a group of brain disorders that affect personality, behavior, and language. Even as his illness got worse, Bruce kept acting—appearing in movies like 2023’s Assassin and the Detective Knight series.
According to reports, “Willis had found ways to soldier on with his acting, having directors scale down his dialogue and getting a trusted friend to feed him his lines through an earpiece.” Since Bruce already spoke slowly because of a childhood stutter, the changes caused by his illness weren’t obvious at first.
On Instagram, Emma explained that The Unexpected Journey “isn’t a memoir, it’s a self-help guide for caregivers, written to hold space for our heartbreak and our healing.” She added:
“There’s something profoundly tragic about the reason I had to write this book. But in the process, I discovered what I call the Remarkable Reframe: that even in the depths of grief, there can be meaning, connection, and unexpected beauty. I know this book will help others because it’s helping me.”
. She says it’s “not a guide on how to be a caregiver; it’s about how to care for yourself while doing one of the hardest, most heartbreaking jobs in the world”.
Bruce’s career lasted over 40 years. He became famous in the 1980s on the TV show Moonlighting and went on to star in blockbusters like Die Hard, Pulp Fiction, and The Sixth Sense. In 2022, his family announced he would retire from acting.
Bruce was married to Demi Moore from 1987 to 2000, and they have three daughters—Rumer, Scout, and Tallulah. The whole family has been open about Bruce’s journey with FTD, sharing updates and supporting each other through this tough time. Emma’s book will be released on September 9.
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English (US) · 