The family of famous movie star Bruce Willis announced that the star will be taking a break from acting because of his battle with aphasia – a neurological condition that affects a person’s ability to communicate.
Now that his condition is out in public as per an official statement released by the family of legendary actor Bruce Willis, a lot of co-actors and filmmakers have stated that they noticed Willis battling with cognitive issues and memory loss before the announcement on film sets.
The official statement released by the family stated,
“Bruce’s amazing supporters, as a family we wanted to share that our beloved Bruce has been experiencing some health issues and has recently been diagnosed with aphasia, which is impacting his cognitive abilities. As a result of this and with much consideration Bruce is stepping away from the career that has meant so much to him.”
The statement was signed by Bruce Willis’s wife Emma, ex-wife and actress Demi Moore, and his beloved daughters Rumer, Tallulah, Scout, Evelyn, and Mabel.
Mike Burns, the director of Out of death, and Jesse V. Johnson who directed White Elephant, stated that it was quite certain that he had been struggling to remember the lines and his monologues on the set of movies. Even at times, it was noticed that he had difficulty remembering what he was doing on the set or he couldn’t recognize them.
Mike Burns stated that he had to cut the script of Bruce Willis in his movie “out of death” by almost 5 pages and relayed this information to the screenwriter.
“I could see it firsthand and I realized that there was a bigger issue at stake here and why I had been asked to shorten his lines,” Burns recalled.
Burns further stated that he noticed a further decline in the condition when the filming of the movie started in October of 2021.
“I didn’t think he was better; I thought he was worse,” Burns said. “After we finished, I said: ‘I’m done. I’m not going to do any other Bruce Willis movies.’ I am relieved that he is taking time off.”
More than 2 dozen people who worked with the legendary actor in the recent past claimed that they have seen him struggling with memory issues and had voiced their concerns.
A lot of insiders also claimed that there was a point when Bruce started using an “earwig” to remember his lines while shooting for his scenes.
In scenes of gunfire, body doubles were a must to take Willis’s place. Mayo Clinic explained that “It typically occurs suddenly after a stroke or a head injury but can also come on gradually from a slow-growing brain tumor or a disease that causes progressive, permanent damage (degenerative).”
