Overview

• In an exclusive Fantástico interview, Emma Heming Willis calls frontotemporal dementia “a long goodbye” and says Bruce is “doing very well” despite the disease’s aggressiveness.
• She confirms the family arranged full-time professional care and chose to live separately to protect their children, following medical advice about caregiver health risks.
• Willis was formally diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia in 2023 after an earlier aphasia diagnosis, with early signs dating back to 2015 including a return of childhood stuttering.
• Emma recounts that during the 2015 stage play Misery he relied on an earpiece as lines became hard to retain, with long-standing hearing damage initially obscuring symptoms.
• Specialists note there is no cure for FTD, which is less common than Alzheimer’s and often misdiagnosed, with one study reporting 70% of suspected cases were not the disease.