The early symptoms of Bruce Willis’s dementia have manifested as a return of his childhood stutter, as revealed by his wife, Emma Heming Willis.

“Bruce always stuttered, but he hid it well,” the 46-year-old Emma shared with Town & Country, discussing the initial signs of the actor’s frontotemporal dementia (FTD). She added, “When his speech began to change, it [seemed] just like part of the stutter; it was just Bruce. Never in a million years would I have thought this could be a form of dementia for someone so young.”

Frontotemporal dementia is a broad term for a group of disorders affecting the frontal and temporal lobes of the brain—areas associated with personality, behavior, and language. Aphasia, a disorder impacting speech ability, was initially diagnosed in Willis and can be a symptom of FTD.

Emma noted that the actor’s stuttering originally motivated him to pursue acting. “He stuttered a lot as a child,” she said. “He went to college, and there was a theater teacher who said, ‘I have something that will help you.’ In that class, Bruce realized he could memorize a script and deliver it without stuttering. That’s what pushed him toward acting.”

Emma reflected on their life together, saying, “We had so many plans, so many wonderful things we wanted to do with our girls, so much we wanted to experience together. It feels like you’re completely ripping that page out… This may not be the prettiest story I could come up with, but it has glimpses of light.”

It’s heartbreaking to see such a beloved figure facing such challenges. How do you think Bruce Willis’s journey might impact public awareness about dementia and its symptoms?