Emma Heming Willis says Bruce Willis' 'Die Hard' role cost him dearly

Emma Heming Willis, wife of retired actor Bruce Willis, thinks an injury suffered while filming Die Hard may have led to early dementia.

Bruce has been afflicted by frontotemporal dementia (FTD), a degenerative brain condition that causes speech loss, personality changes, and memory loss.

His wife Emma, who shares two daughters with the actor, has penned a book about her experiences as a caregiver in the situation. In the book, titled Unexpected Journey: Finding Strength, Hope, and Yourself on the Caregiving Path, she noted that firing a gun multiple times in a Die Hard scene without any ear protection left Bruce with hearing loss.

In an interview with Fox News Digital, she revealed: "When Bruce was shooting the first Die Hard, he shot a gun underneath a table multiple times, and they didn't have him wear any kind of ear protection. That took out a huge percentage of his hearing. And over time, for all of us as we age, our hearing starts to go a bit."

Bruce has himself admitted that he suffered "two-thirds partial hearing loss in my left ear" due to the scene. 

When The Sixth Sense star began showing symptoms of dementia and would zone out during family times, the family thought it was just his hearing issues. But later, due to personality changes, including a loss of empathy, Emma noticed and at first found the changes worrying, thinking their marriage was falling apart.

She told the outlet that she didn’t know that a "sort of lack of empathy" was a symptom of "young dementia".

Emma Heming Willis has been married to Bruce since 2009 and shares daughters Mabel and Evelyn Willis with him.