Actor Bruce Willis radiated joy as he brought in the Thanksgiving festivities with his loved ones.
The 69-year-old action film hero, famed for his roles in films like Die Hard, has recently taken a step back to prioritise his health and family life.
Following a poignant announcement about his retirement due to an aphasia diagnosis made in 2022, Bruce’s family later shared that he was also battling frontotemporal dementia, the Mirror reports.
The actor’s health updates have been consistently provided by his wife Emma Heming Willis, his former partner Demi Moore, and their children. During the Thanksgiving celebrations, Bruce’s daughter Tallulah, 30, took to Instagram to post heartfelt pictures with her father and sibling, Scout, who is 33.
In one touching image, a happy Bruce is seen lounging on a couch with Scout draping an arm over his shoulder while he grasps a ‘best dad ever’ sign. Scout beams at Bruce while he mirrors her smile.
Meanwhile, sitting on the floor, Tallulah looks up adoringly at her father, reaching out to playfully pull his ear.
Another snapshot displays Scout and Bruce pressing their foreheads together, with Tallulah looking on with affection. “Grateful,” Tallulah beautifully captioned her post, eliciting a stream of warm wishes from thrilled followers grateful to see moments of the iconic actor shared by his family.
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One fan wrote: “Yall rule for sharing glimpses of your amazing father with us” while another said: “Happy Thanksgiving, ladies! You are both amazing daughters! I’m sure his heart is full! ”
A third fan commented: “Pure love. Holding your precious family in light and love.” Another added: “I LOVE THIS. My dad was diagnosed with dementia last year. It’s such a bittersweet diagnosis. Stay strong.”
Bruce’s wife Emma, 46, disclosed that it wasn’t until his ‘language started changing’ that they began to suspect something was amiss. She recounted: “For Bruce, it started with language. He had a severe stutter as a child.”
She elaborated: “He went to college, and there was a theatre teacher who said, ‘I’ve got something that’s going to help you’. From that class, Bruce realised that he could memorise a script and be able to say it without stuttering. That’s what propelled him into acting.”
After learning he could memorise a script and say it without stuttering, Bruce was inspired to delve into acting. She noted that while Bruce ‘always had a stutter’, he became ‘good at covering it up’.
Emma admitted she was initially unaware that the alteration in his speech pattern could be an early indicator of a serious health issue. Speaking to Town and Country, she said: “As his language started changing, it (seemed like it) was just a part of a stutter, it was just Bruce. Never in a million years would I think it would be a form of dementia for someone so young”.
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