It’s been a few years since Bruce Willis, one of the most iconic Hollywood actors of the time, stepped back from acting following his heartbreaking dementia diagnosis. The Die Hard star has since been in the care of his wife, Emma Heming Willis.
Emma recently reflected on how Bruce Willis perceived his brilliant Hollywood career before his dementia.
Bruce Willis’ wife shares what he thought of his acting career before Dementia
It seems that despite his brilliant time in front of the camera, Bruce Willis was not the kind to reflect on or feel proud of his achievements. Emma Hemming Willis opened up about this in an interview at the End Well 2025 conference in Los Angeles.
Speaking about how Bruce perceived himself and his acting career, Emma said to PEOPLE, “I don’t know that he ever has [reflected on his legacy].” She continued, “I don’t think that he’s ever harped or thought long and hard about who he is, what he’s done…I think he’s just always enjoyed being an actor, entertaining people.”
“He really loved it. It was a passion of his,” Emma added, “That’s why I love him. He’s just always so humble. You would never know.”
Bruce Willis rose to prominence with the television series Moonlighting, which received great acclaim. He went on to have a packed career in Hollywood, with hits like Armageddon, Pulp Fiction, The Fifth Element, The Sixth Sense, The Jackal, and the Die Hard franchise. Willis’s last appearance was in Assassin, a direct-to-video film.
In 2022, he was diagnosed with aphasia. He retired from acting following this. His aphasia has progressed to frontotemporal dementia (FTD) since.
Despite the hardships that come with the diagnosis, the Willis family is determined to make the most of the time they have with Bruce. “I think for us, it’s just about me being able to be there and be present with him,” Emma said. She added, “I mean, our life is very simple. It always actually has been. I think that just being able to be present with him, that is the joy.”
“Life goes on. It just goes on,” she added, “Dementia is hard, but there is still joy in it. I think it’s important that we don’t paint such a negative picture around dementia. We are still laughing. There is still joy. It just looks different.”
