Bruce Willis’ Wife Emma On How His FTD Impacted Marriage, When She Felt Something Was Off

In People’s latest cover story, Emma, 47, reflected on her 18-year relationship with Bruce, 70, amid his frontotemporal dementia, sharing how their love story “has only grown” since he was diagnosed with the neurodegenerative disease.

The Willis family — including Emma, along with Bruce and his ex-wife Demi Moore’s daughters Rumer, 37, Scout, 37, and Tallulah, 31, — first announced in March 2022 that Bruce would retire from acting after being diagnosed with aphasia, which the Mayo Clinic describes as a language disorder that impacts speech, writing, and comprehension. Nearly a year later, they confirmed his condition had progressed to frontotemporal dementia, also known as FTD, a disease that affects the brain’s frontal and temporal lobes, areas tied to personality, behavior, and language.

“Early on, life felt very dark, very one-note of just grief and sadness,” recalled Emma, who became Bruce’s full-time caretaker following his diagnosis.

She added that she felt “very isolated” and was “too scared to say anything to anyone.”

“I think for most [people], by the time you get to a diagnosis, you are already in that role,” Emma continued, referring to her stepping into the role of Bruce’s caregiver.

Emma — who is promoting her upcoming book about caregiving, The Unexpected Journey: Finding Strength, Hope, and Yourself on the Caregiving Path — went on to recall when she realized something began to appear off with her husband.

“FTD doesn’t scream, it whispers,” she told People. “It’s very gray to know where Bruce stopped and where his disease kicked in. I started noticing his stutter started to come back, but I never in a million years thought that was a symptom of FTD. Conversations weren’t really aligning anymore, and our relationship started to shift. It was hard to put my finger on why and what was happening.”

As Bruce continued to have issues communicating, Emma said he worried something was wrong in their relationship.

“I thought it was something I was doing in our marriage that was not working anymore,” she recalled. “It’s like you’re banging your head against a brick wall. You’re just like, ‘Where is the miscommunication coming? What is happening within our relationship?'”

After Bruce received his FTD diagnosis, Emma said she was relieved knowing it wasn’t their marriage, but a disease that was affecting her husband.

“There was relief in understanding, ‘Oh, okay, this wasn’t my husband, it was that this disease was taking parts of his brain’,” she explained, adding that she “just softened.”

While at the time Emma “felt like what was happening was only happening to us,” she later learned that many couples who have suffered FTD had a similar experience. “I have heard so many other couples that have gone through this where they just can’t figure it out (and) think it’s a marital problem, but in fact, it’s a symptom of a disease,” she told People.

In the years since Bruce was diagnosed, Emma said their relationship has only become stronger and has further deepened their connection, despite Bruce’s condition.

“I feel like our love story has only grown and developed more,” she told People. “It sounds woo-woo but it’s just on a more cellular level. I am so grateful that he is very much here, very much a part of our day-to-day.”

Emma went on to share that Bruce’s health battle has made her see their relationship in a new light.

“It has meant so much to be able to meet him where he’s at, to enjoy this time with him,” she explained. “Bruce is very present in his body, and there is something so lovely and wonderful about that. He’s not thinking about what happened yesterday or what’s happening in the future. He is very grounded in today.”

“Sometimes, love does not need words. I can just sit there with Bruce, and we look at each other and we laugh and smile and that, to me, is more than anything,” Emma concluded.

Emma and Bruce tied the knot in 2009, and welcomed daughters Mabel, 13, and Evelyn, 11.