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Emma Heming is giving more insight into Bruce Willis’ dementia battle.
The “Die Hard” actor’s wife discussed her husband’s “declining” health, and how she’s helped the couple’s children Mabel, 12, and Evelyn, 10, understand their dad’s disease, in an interview with Town & Country for the magazine’s November 2024 Philanthropy Issue.
“His disease is misdiagnosed, it’s missed, it’s misunderstood, so finally getting to a diagnosis was key so that I could learn what frontotemporal dementia is and I could educate our children,” said Heming, 46, in the interview published Tuesday.
“I’ve never tried to sugarcoat anything for them,” the model and actress added. “They’ve grown up with Bruce declining over the years. I’m not trying to shield them from it.”
In addition to the two children he shares with Heming, Willis, 69, has three adult daughters — Rumer, 36, Scout, 33, and Tallulah, 30 — with his ex-wife, Demi Moore.
In February 2023, the blended family came together to announce Willis’ frontotemporal dementia diagnosis. They’ve continued to be a united front as they help Willis through his health battle.
“The family respects the way I’m looking after him; they really support me. If I need to vent, if I need to cry, if I need to rage — because all of that can happen and it’s okay to have those feelings — they are always there to listen,” said Heming.
“I’m so thankful that we are this blended family,” she added. “They’re very supportive, very loving and very helpful, and a lot of people don’t have that.”
Willis was originally diagnosed with aphasia in 2022, which forced him to retire from acting, before it was revealed that he has frontotemporal dementia.
Heming said that her famous husband’s health issues “started with language,” and that the stutter he had since childhood partly masked the disease.
“Bruce has always had a stutter, but he has been good at covering it up,” she explained. “As his language started changing, it [seemed like it] was just a part of a stutter, it was just Bruce. Never in a million years would I think it would be a form of dementia for someone so young.”
Heming is now an advocate for frontotemporal dementia awareness and is set to receive the Susan Newhouse & Si Newhouse Award of Hope from the Association for Frontotemporal Degeneration (AFTD) next year.
“I’m a rule follower type, and Bruce is the opposite of that,” she said when sharing how she’s grown due to Willis’ diagnosis.
“I’ve learned so much from him about how to be able to use your voice and do good,” Heming continued. “This is bigger than me, and as Bruce would say, ‘You gotta get outta your own way, Emma.’ That’s what I’m really trying to do — be brave and bold and things that I was not prior to this.”
Willis’ family members have given gradual updates on his health since his diagnosis. Moore, who was married to the “Pulp Fiction” star from 1987 to 2000, said at the Hamptons International Film Festival earlier this month that Willis is “stable.”
In September, Tallulah shared on Today, “He’s stable, which, in this situation, is good. It’s hard. There’s painful days but there’s so much love. And it’s really shown me to not take any moment for granted and I really do think that we’d be best friends. I think he’s very proud of me.”
Rumer told The Post in May how her family appreciates the support they’ve gotten while caring for Willis.
“What’s been so lovely is the amount of people that reach out and just come up to me and share how much they love my dad or what an impact or just sharing that they’re praying for us,” she said.
“I just have such deep gratitude for the love that comes our way,” Rumer added.