Bruce Willis is “stepping away” from his acting career after being diagnosed with aphasia, which leads to the loss of ability to understand or express speech, his family said in a statement posted to social media.
“To 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,” read the statement. “As a result of this and with much consideration, Bruce is stepping away from the career that has meant so much to him.”
The 67-year-old film star is best known for playing John McClane in the iconic Die Hard franchise. The original 1988 film made Willis a film and action star after he was mainly known as a comedic TV actor, specifically in the series Moonlighting (1985-89).
“I’m very saddened by this news,” said Larry Gordon, producer of Die Hard and its 1990 sequel. “Bruce is a good friend and was fantastic to work with on Die Hard 1 and 2. They couldn’t be harder films for an actor to make and survive. He is the consummate pro and a gutsy guy.”
Willis has starred in such blockbusters as The Fifth Element (1997), Armageddon (1998) and The Sixth Sense (1999). Willis’ other classics include The Last Boy Scout (1991), Death Becomes Her (1992) Pulp Fiction (1994) and 12 Monkeys (1995).
“This is a really challenging time for our family, and we are so appreciative of your continued love, compassion and support,” said the Willis family in their statement. “We are moving through this as a strong family unit, and wanted to bring his fans in because we know how much he means to you, as you do to him. As Bruce always says, ‘Live it up’ and together we plan to do just that. Love, Emma, Demi, Rumer, Scout, Tallulah, Mabel, & Evelyn.”
A year ago, director James Cullen Bressack shot the Willis films Survive the Game and Fortress back-to-back in Puerto Rico. He recalls the actor being in good spirits, and having a tradition of crumpling up pages once they filmed a scene and shooting them like basketballs into a trash can. Recalls the filmmaker to The Hollywood Reporter: “He and I just enjoyed doing that. Both of us competing to see who could make more baskets. He laughed a lot. I laughed a lot. It was a lot of fun.” In an Instagram post, Bresack paid tribute to Willis, writing, “I’m blessed to have had the chance to work with him.”
Willis was immediately trending on social media as the news broke, as fans were sharing their disbelief and sadness over the development.
Aaron Couch contributed to this report.