Actor Tallulah Willis recently shared her heartache over her father, Bruce Willis, and his declining health.
Per Entertainment Tonight, she opened up about the impact of her father’s aphasia, a symptom of frontotemporal dementia, on their relationship. The compassionate and supportive response from fans deeply touched her, and she expressed her gratitude for their overwhelming warmth and understanding.
“The response has been so unbelievable, and I’m incredibly grateful, not only for the people that have reached out but for Vogue and Anna [Wintour]. I think that for me, I hope that whatever anyone needed to take from that, they can take from it. I don’t necessarily want to dictate what they needed to take from that. I think that that’s their truth, and I just hope that there can be more moments that I can help open up the space for things to resonate for people.”
In her essay, Tallulah reflects on her response to her father’s health challenges, acknowledging that she initially coped with “avoidance and denial.” At the time, she was already grappling with several daunting diagnoses: substance dependency, anorexia nervosa, and ADHD. Her family intervened after her engagement came to a painful end, with Tallulah checking into a mental health facility and received a new diagnosis; borderline personality disorder. There, she took the transformative first steps on her path to healing, as she wrote.
“Recovery is probably lifelong, but I now have the tools to be present in all facets of my life, and especially in my relationship with my dad. I can bring him an energy that’s bright and sunny, no matter where I’ve been.”
Tallulah Belle Willis is the third of her father’s five daughters. She and two of her sisters, Rumer Glenn, and Scout LaRue, were born during his marriage to actor Demi Moore from 1988 to 1998. His youngest children, Mabel Ray, and Evelyn Penn, are with his current wife, model Emma Hemming, whom he married in 2009.
She started a fashion label called Wyllis to raise awareness about mental health during the pandemic. Next up, Tallulah will be one of 12 celebrities to compete for survival in a simulated space station in the new reality show Stars on Mars. Hosted by William Shatner, other contestants include Tinashe, Lance Armstrong, Porscha Williams, Marshawn Lynch, Ariel Winter, and Richard Sherman.
