Bruce Willis’ Wife Says Holidays Look ‘Different’ Amid His Dementia Battle

The “Die Hard” actor retired from acting after his aphasia diagnosis in 2022, which was later confirmed to be frontotemporal dementia.

Last week, Bruce Willis’ daughter, Rumer Willis, also shared a heartbreaking update on his health, revealing that, like many other dementia sufferers, he is “not doing great.”

Bruce’s wife, Emma, opened up about holiday life with the actor amid his dementia struggles.

During her appearance at the End Well 2025 conference in Los Angeles last Thursday, the actress said that the holidays are still “joyous” with Bruce, only “different.”

“It’s joyous. It’s just different,” Emma told People Magazine. “Bruce loved Christmas, and we love celebrating it with him. It just looks different, so we’ve kind of adapted to that.”

The couple, who married in 2009 and share daughters Mabel Ray and Evelyn Penn, has had to put up with the difficulties of Bruce’s condition since his diagnosis.

Emma has become a passionate advocate for FTD awareness and has often spoken up on the need for more research, compassion, and understanding for families struggling with the condition.

At the conference, Emma discussed dementia care with Yvette Nicole Brown, having penned down much of her experience on the caregiving journey in her book “The Unexpected Journey: Finding Strength, Hope, and Yourself on the Caregiving Path.”

According to the news outlet, she acknowledged that the holiday season for families struggling with FTD can be “so hard,” but added that she thinks “it’s important to put Die Hard on because it’s a Christmas movie.”

“You have to learn and adapt and make new memories, bring in the same traditions that you had before,” she explained.

Emma added, “Life goes on. It just goes on. 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.”

Bruce is famous for his iconic role as John McClane in the “Die Hard” movie franchise.

In the movie, McClane is a detective who repeatedly finds himself in the wrong place at the wrong time, usually having to thwart a large-scale terrorist or criminal plot, essentially on his own.

Speaking of the family life, Emma said it’s “very simple,” and that the “joy” comes in “being able to be present with him.”

“Me being able to be his wife with him. Those are the moments,” she added.

The 70-year-old action star has since retired from acting following his FTD diagnosis, but despite featuring in hot projects like “Pulp Fiction,” “The Sixth Sense,” and many others, Emma shared that he rarely reflected on his Hollywood career before everything went south.

“I don’t know that he ever has [reflected on his legacy],” Emma said, per People.

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.”

Last week, Bruce’s daughter Rumer shared a sad update on her father’s health as several fans continue to ask about her father.

During a Q&A session on Instagram, the question on how Bruce is faring popped up, and the Rumer Has It founder explained that things aren’t as they had hoped, per The Blast.

“People always ask me this question, and I think it’s kind of a hard one to answer, because the truth is that anybody with FDT is not doing great,” she replied in a November 20 video, “but he’s doing OK in terms of somebody who is dealing with frontotemporal dementia.”

“The only way I feel like I could answer that in a way that’s like he’s doing great… how do I say this?” she continued. “It’s like those parameters don’t really work anymore in my mind, so this is an interesting question.”

However, she went further to explain that she’s “so happy and grateful” that she still gets to hug him, adding that whether he recognizes her or not, “he can feel the love I’ve given him.”