Bruce Willis's condition has deteriorated greatly: he was diagnosed with a disease for which there is no cure

The family of iconic Hollywood actor Bruce Willis spoke about his diagnosis. As it turned out, the actor was diagnosed with a disease for which there is no cure - frontotemporal dementia. Earlier it was reported that the actor had aphasia.

Photo: IStock

The Willis family thanked everyone for their support and wishes the public to be more aware of this disease. Relatives think that Bruce would also like it.

Willis family statement:

“We as a family wanted to take this opportunity to thank you all for your love and compassion for Bruce over the past ten months. Your generosity of spirit has been overwhelming and we are extremely grateful for that. For your kindness and because we know that you love Bruce as much as we do. We wanted to give you news.

Since we announced in the spring of 2022 that Bruce has aphasia, his condition has progressed. And now we have a more specific diagnosis: frontotemporal dementia (known as FTD/FTD). Unfortunately, communication problems are just one of the symptoms of the disease that Bruce faces. Although it is painful, getting a clear diagnosis is a relief.

FTD is a brutal disease that many of us have never heard of and that can affect anyone. In people younger than 60, FTD is the most common form of dementia, and since it can take years to diagnose, FTD is likely much more common than we know.

Today there is no cure for this disease, and we hope that this will change in the coming years. As Bruce's condition progresses, we hope that media attention will be focused on shedding light on this disease, which requires much more awareness and research.

Bruce has always believed in using his voice in the world to help others and raise awareness of important issues both publicly and privately. We know deep down that if he could today, he would want to respond by garnering the world's attention and connecting with those who are also struggling with this debilitating disease and how it affects so many people and their families.

We are the only family with a loved one with FTD and we encourage others who are affected to seek out all the information and support available through AFTD (@theaftd, theaftd.org). And for those of you who are fortunate enough not to have personal experience with FTD, we hope you take the time to learn about it and support the AFTD mission in any way you can.

Bruce always found joy in life and helped everyone he knew do the same. And the world saw that this feeling of caring echoed in him and in all of us. We were so touched by the love you all shared with our dear husband, father and friend during this difficult time. Your continued empathy, understanding and respect will enable us to help Bruce live his life to the fullest."

News about Bruce Willis's illness began to appear about a year ago, but his colleagues in the workshop noted changes in the actor's behavior and his memory problems even earlier.

On the subject: Bruce Willis speaks with difficulty and understands almost nothing: the actor's aphasia is progressing

Bruce Willis' tragic cognitive decline has been on set for years. Daily Mail.

Willis, who has appeared in more than 70 films since he began his career in the 1970s, retired from acting in 2022 as he began battling an illness that was deteriorating his cognitive abilities.

In the past few years, his management has ensured that Willis's film shoot lasts no more than two days, of which he often only worked four hours due to failing health.

"White elephant"

Bruce Willis's slowly deteriorating condition, which often left him appearing bewildered, was seen on the set of The White Elephant. He openly asked what he was doing on the set of the upcoming low-budget film.

Two members of the set recall him asking, "I know why you're here, and I know why you're here, but why am I here?"

The White Elephant was directed by Jesse Johnson, who worked with the actor decades ago when Willis was still a stuntman.

However, on a new set in Georgia, he recalled, "It was clear that this was not the Bruce I remembered."

Johnson asked the team about his condition.

“They said that Bruce was happy to be there, but it would have been better if we had finished shooting at him by lunchtime and released him early,” he recalled.

One crew member who caught Willis' confusion on set said their goal was "how not to make Bruce look bad."

The film crew rushed to shoot scenes with him, and the actor was later heard asking what he was doing on the set.

“Someone said a line to him, but he did not understand what it meant. After working on White Elephant, we decided we weren't going to do any more films,” Johnson said. "We're all Bruce Willis fans and it felt wrong, a rather sad end to an incredible career."

The film was released in June 2022.

"Total Destruction"

On the set of films, directors who worked with Willis saw signs of a potential decline in his cognitive functions. According to at least two people, he had a sort of false start with a pistol loaded with a blank on the set of Total Annihilation.

Willis was often accompanied on set by an entourage. Let's say his longtime assistant Stephen Eads was paid up to $200 per film to accompany the actor.

On the set of Open Source, Adam Huell Potter made up to $4150 a week reading Willis' lines to the actor through an earpiece.

In January 2020, actress Lala Kent was scheduled to play Willis' daughter in Total Destruction, and in one of the scenes, his character was supposed to intervene and protect her from the villains.

Willis needed to say a line that would signal Kent to duck before he fired his weapon. But Willis fired his gun before he said the line - and the actress did not have time to duck.

According to Kennt, she took everything calmly after Willis' first misfire.

“Because my back was to him, I didn’t know what was happening behind me. But the first time it was like: “No big deal, let’s reshoot,” the actress recalls.

She asked director Matt Eskandari to remind Willis to say his line before the shot, but the situation repeated itself.

Two other crew members confirmed that Willis fired on the wrong signal, with one adding, "We always made sure no one was in the line of fire when he was holding a gun."

Randall Emmett, who founded Emmett/Furla Oasis and worked with Willis on 20 films, says Bruce didn't fire prematurely. The film's gunsmith also denies that such an incident took place.

But the alleged shot shocked the other cast and crew.

The film was released in August 2020. Willis is only there for seven minutes.

"Beyond Life": reduced airtime and banned monologues

Shortly before production began on Beyond Life, director Mike Burns sent an email to the film's screenwriter stating that the role of Willis needed to be cut "by about five pages".

Just days before Willis was due to appear on the set of one of his latest action films, the director of the project sent out an urgent request: to reduce the role of the movie star.

In 2020, the director requested that his lines be "short and sweet", giving little explanation for the sudden rewrite.

“It looks like we need to cut Bruce's page count by about five pages,” director Mike Burns said in a June 2020 email to the writer. “We also need to shorten his dialogue a bit so there are no monologues etc.”

It is known that almost two dozen people who were on the set with the actor expressed concern about his well-being.

Willis received $2 million for two days of work on set. And an actor went with him, who spoke lines to him through an earpiece, because he could not remember them.

According to people close to the crew, action scenes or parts requiring choreography were often performed by a stunt double in place of Willis.

The film was released in July 2021.

"Dangerous Witness": he was getting worse

Director Mike Burns was offered to make another film with Willis, Dangerous Witness, but he was worried about the actor's health.

One of Willis' colleagues was assured: "Now this is a completely different person, and he is much better than last year."

However, when filming began, Burns said: “I don’t think he’s feeling any better. He's probably worse off. And after filming ended, I said, “I’m done. I'm not going to make any more films with Bruce Willis." I'm glad he took some time off."

The film was released in July 2022.

"Paradise City": He always tried his best

Paradise City was one of Willis' last films before his retirement.

Chuck Russell, director of the film, said he was thrilled to be working with Willis again.

But Terry Martin, director of White Elephant, said: "He looked so lost and kept saying, 'I'll do my best.' He always tried his best. He's one of the greatest of all time and I have great respect and admiration for his work, but it was time for him to retire."

The film was released in November 2022 and starred as Ian Swan alongside John Travolta.

Willis played a bounty hunter who is wounded and presumed dead in the waters of Maui.

"American siege": seen in the earpiece

Bruce Willis had problems filming earlier films as well. He was seen with an earpiece being dictated to on the set of American Siege in 2020.

It was two years before the family announced that Willis had aphasia.

You may be interested in: top New York news, stories of our immigrants and helpful tips about life in the Big Apple - read it all on ForumDaily New York

American Siege co-star Rob Gough said: “This guy is a legend and just iconic. Even without knowing his diagnosis, just being on set with this guy was so memorable and so amazing to me. Even though he went through it when he was on camera, it's second nature to him, he just turned on and you had no idea anything was going on."

Willis' acting career began with small roles on television shows like Miami Vice and The Twilight Zone in the early 1980s.

He began to gain attention for his starring role opposite Cybill Shepherd on the ABC series Moonlight, which ran from 1985 to 1989. But his real breakout role was portraying John McClain in the hit film Die Hard, which premiered in 1988 and spawned six sequels.

“In my opinion, this was his first big film and he wanted to do it right. “He wanted it to work,” co-star Reginald Veljohnson told People magazine at a 2018th anniversary screening in 30. “He was more interested in playing the role than anything else.”

“It was his first film and he became the star of a huge blockbuster. It was very well advertised that he earns $5 million. By the standards of that time, this is incredible,” said Bonnie Bedelia, who played his wife Holly Gennaro McClain in the film.

In addition, Willis starred in films such as Pulp Fiction, 12 Monkeys and the superhero film Unbreakable, the role from which he reprized more than a decade later in 2016's Split and 2019's Glass.

Read also on ForumDaily:

Scientists have developed a simple test that detects cancer in its early stages: it works like a pregnancy test

Americans spend billions annually on filing tax returns, although they could do it for free: which services are better to use

Minimum grocery prices: 5 cheapest US supermarkets

Scientists accidentally created a contraceptive drug for men: it slows down spermatozoa

Do you want more important and interesting news about life in the USA and immigration to America? — support us donate! Also subscribe to our page Facebook. Select the “Priority in display” option and read us first. Also, don't forget to subscribe to our РєР ° РЅР ° Р »РІ Telegram  and Instagram- there is a lot of interesting things there. And join thousands of readers ForumDaily New York — there you will find a lot of interesting and positive information about life in the metropolis.