Easily one of the biggest movie stars of his era, generations of moviegoers spent years watching Bruce Willis on the big screen. Thanks to his roles in movies like the Die Hard franchise, The Sixth Sense, The Fifth Element, Pulp Fiction, Unbreakable, and Looper, among others, Willis’s incredible career made him a truly beloved figure.
Since millions of people have been invested in Willis’ career, there has been a lot of interest in what the Hollywood icon’s life is like now. Recently, observers have learned more about how the actor’s life has changed.
Bruce Willis’ Wife Revealed Their Family Celebrates Christmas Differently Because of His Dementia
On November 27, 2025 People published an article about how Bruce Willis and his family have continued to celebrate Christmas as he copes with dementia. Willis’ wife was attending the End Well 2025 conference, where she had an onstage conversation with Yvette Nicole Brown about dementia, when she spoke to the outlet. While talking to People, Emma Heming Willis revealed that Bruce Willis’ family still loves celebrating Christmas as they adjust their traditions due to his dementia symptoms.
“It’s joyous. It’s just different. Bruce loved Christmas, and we love celebrating it with him. It just looks different, so we’ve kind of adapted to that… You have to learn and adapt and make new memories, bring in the same traditions that you had before. Life goes on. It just goes on.”
While Heming Willis has often been blunt about the difficulties of having a loved one who is coping with dementia, she provides a multifaceted perspective on the realities of that situation. A perfect example of that is the fact that she also spoke to People about finding joy while caring for a loved one who has the symptoms of dementia.
“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.”
On top of having some fascinating things to say to People, Heming Willis also showed off her humor to the outlet. After she stated that dementia can make the holidays “so hard” for families, she joked about one of the most hotly debated pop culture Christmas topics. “I think it’s important to put Die Hard on because it’s a Christmas movie.”
Why Bruce Willis Copes With Dementia Symptoms
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In March 2022, members of Bruce Willis’ family announced on social media that the movie star had been diagnosed with aphasia. Aphasia is a disorder that damages the parts of the brain that are considered the language centers.
As a September 2025 Today article states, it has also been revealed that Willis has been diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia, or FTD. The form of dementia that Willis is coping with affects his behavior and ability to communicate. That makes the actor’s form of dementia different than other types of dementia that are more associated with memory loss.
