Bruce Willis appeared to be in high spirits Monday as he posed for a photo with a fan in Santa Monica, California, in a rare public appearance five months after his aphasia diagnosis.
The 67-year-old Die Hard star was seen smiling and joking as he welcomed a female fan and her kid outside the Shutters on the Beach hotel, where he is claimed to have had lunch with a buddy.
Willis has been seldom seen in public since learning about his condition in March, which has impaired his capacity to talk and hear speech.
The actor’s choice to retire from acting was also revealed.
Willis, who rose to prominence as the wise-cracking detective David Addison in the crime-solving drama Moonlighting in the 1980s, was able to conceal his illness for many years, as seen by the scores of films he has featured in during the previous decade.
Nine of those projects were released in 2022, while two more are listed as in post development. The majority of the films are available exclusively on video.
According to reports, the tough-guy actor would either be delivered his lines through an earpiece or have someone read them to him off camera so he could repeat them on camera.
Bruce can still communicate himself musically, as seen by a recent video on wife Emma Hemming Willis’ Instagram page of Bruce playing harmonica and improvising with singer and guitarist Derek Richard Thomas.
Their talent is speaking for itself. I’ll just leave this here 🎶 @derekrichardthomas #jamsession
Posted by Emma Heming Willis on Wednesday, 24 August 2022
Emma released a video of the Pulp Fiction star smiling and dancing with one of their girls on the family’s back porch five weeks ago.
Emma, his ex-wife Demi Moore, 59, and their five kids Rumer, 33, Scout, 30, Tallulah, 28, Mabel Ray, 10, and Evelyn, eight, announced his aphasia diagnosis on Instagram on March 30.
They stated that the Hollywood legend has been suffering some health concerns and was recently diagnosed with aphasia, which is affecting his cognitive ability.
As a result of this, and after careful contemplation, Bruce is leaving the profession that has meant so much to him. This is a very difficult moment for his family, and they are grateful for the continuous love, sympathy, and encouragement.
They are going through this as a strong family unit, and wished to invite his fans in since they know how much he means to us, as we do to him, they said. “Live it up,” as Bruce always says, and that is exactly what they intend to do.
Aphasia is defined by the Mayo Clinic as “a disorder that impacts your capacity to communicate” that “may influence your voice, as well as the way you write and interpret both spoken and written language.”
The actor’s family did not say what triggered his aphasia, which might be caused by a variety of factors.
The syndrome may emerge as a result of a head injury or stroke, or it may be a precursor to a brain tumor or Alzheimer’s disease.
Individuals with the illness are often addressed with speech therapy and trained nonverbal communication techniques.
