As her father Bruce Willis struggles with frontotemporal dementia, Tallulah Willis says certain days are “painful”.
After Hoda Kotb expressed how affected she was by Tallulah’s May 2023 Vogue first-person essay, the 30-year-old updated her father’s status on Sept. 18 on Today.
Tallulah stated in her personal essay, “I have hopes for my father that I’m so reluctant to let go of.” “I’ve always seen his personality in me, and I know we’d be great friends if we had more time.”
Kotb was moved and asked Bruce, 69, how he was.
Tallulah said, “He’s stable, which is good in this situation. It’s hard. There are hard days but plenty of affection. It taught me not to take anything for granted, and I believe we’d be great friends. He’s probably proud of me.”
The actress said her mother, Demi Moore, advised her on her dad’s health. “You must be in the moment, you must be present,” she remarked.
Bruce’s family announced in March 2022 that he was retiring from acting due to aphasia, a linguistic impairment. His wife Emma Heming Willis revealed in February that he had frontotemporal dementia and his health had deteriorated.
An umbrella name for brain illnesses that affect the frontal and temporal lobes is frontotemporal dementia. Atrophy in these lobes may cause verbal, emotional, and personality disorders.
Muscle spasms, walking difficulties, and swallowing issues are further symptoms. Symptoms worsen with time. Patients usually discover symptoms between 40 and 65, however younger persons might be affected. It is the most frequent dementia among under-60s.
According to Tallulah, Bruce was “updating as we did before, which is wonderful. No matter the day, my family and I meet him there.”
Tallulah also discussed her autism diagnosis last year and how she’s managed it on Today.
After being misdiagnosed for years, I was diagnosed at 29, which is usual for adult women. I’m just learning the terminology and regulations in the past year since it was so new to me.
It was emotional. I felt relieved. I despised myself and believed I was broken, she said. “To learn that the parts of myself I thought were ill or wrong or too much for this world are okay and just need a few more tools. It offered me self-compassion.”
Tallulah said autism “quickly became part of my mosaic of self” and has accepted her diagnosis, spending the last year spreading awareness and speaking out.
They’ve watched me since I was a baby. She claimed it was crucial for her to discuss it on that stage. “I wasn’t sure how to approach it, but I felt obligated to make it meaningful for those struggling like me.
