Bruce Willis was diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia (FTD) in 2022.
Tallulah Willis has a touching update on her father, Bruce Willis, and his health.
The 29-year-old is a guest on Wednesday's episode of The Drew Barrymore Show, and opens up about her father's frontotemporal dementia diagnosis. Bruce was diagnosed with the disorder last year, and as a byproduct, aphasia, a brain-mediated inability to speak or to understand speech. According to the Mayo Clinic, frontotemporal dementia "is an umbrella term for a group of brain disorders that primarily affect the frontal and temporal lobes of the brain."
In 2022, Bruce's wife, Emma Heming Willis, Tallulah, her sisters, Rumer and Scout Willis, and their mother, Demi Moore, went public with the Die Hard actor's condition. According to Tallulah, it's important for the world to know and be aware of what their family is going through.
"Well I think it’s two fold.," she tells Drew about their decision to speak out about the 68-year-old actor's health battle. "On one hand it’s who we are as a family but also it’s really important for us to spread awareness."
Tallulah addresses the lack of information that is out there in regard to the rare cognitive disorder and how that inspires her family to share more.
"We had no idea, and again it’s like the bigger version of what I’m trying to do, if we can take something that we’re struggling with as a family to help other people, to turn it around to make something beautiful about it, that’s really special for us," she explains. "And part of what’s been a really beautiful way for me to heal through this is becoming like an archeologist to my dad’s world, to his little trinkets and doo-dads."
While giving an update on her father's condition, Tallulah tells Drew that there's no drastic changes so far, and that's a good sign.
"He is the same, which I think in this regard I’ve learned is the best thing you can ask for," she shares. "I see love when I’m with him, and it’s my dad and he loves me, which is really special."
In September, Emma appeared on the Today show where she candidly opened up about her husband's "hard" condition.
"It’s hard on the person diagnosed, it’s also hard on the family. And that is no different for Bruce, or myself, or our girls. When they say this is a family disease, it really is," she said.
Emma became emotional when asked if Bruce is aware of his condition. "It's hard to know," she said, tearing up.
Emma, who shares daughters Mabel, 11, and Evelyn, 9, with the actor called his diagnosis "the blessing and the curse."
"To finally understand what was happening, so that I could be into the acceptance of what is," she explained. "It doesn't make it any less painful, but just being in the know of what is happening to Bruce makes it a little easier."
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