Bruce Willis’ Young Daughters ‘Miss Him’ but Have ‘Really Adapted’ to His Dementia Diagnosis, Says Wife Emma

Willis shares daughters Mabel, 13, and Evelyn, 11, with his wife of 16 years

Bruce Willis with daughter Evelyn; Bruce Willis with daughter Mabel.

Bruce Willis’ youngest daughters have learned to navigate his dementia diagnosis in their own way.

The 70-year-old actor shares daughters Mabel Ray, 13, and Evelyn Penn, 11, with his wife Emma Heming Willis and was diagnosed with progressive frontotemporal dementia (FTD) in 2022.

In a new interview with U.K. newspaper The Times, Emma, 49, reflected on her daughters’ evolving relationship with their father.

“You can see the tenderness of it,” she told the outlet.

“The girls don’t need him to be this or do that.

They have really adapted to his disease and they know how to move around him.

It’s beautiful, but it’s hard for them. They miss him.”

Emma Heming Willis with daughters Evelyn and Mabel.

The girls, who live with their mom in a separate home from Bruce, still greet their dad when they come home from school, sitting on the Die Hard actor’s lap and holding their faces against his in sweet moments.

Emma said that having separate homes from Bruce, who also shares older daughters Rumer, 37, Scout, 34, and Tallulah, 31, with ex-wife, Demi Moore, allows her girls to be loud in their home without overwhelming their father.

“Among the sadness and discomfort, it was the right move — for him, for our girls, for me,” Emma told The Times.

“Ultimately I could get back to being his wife. And that’s such a gift.”

Bruce Willis and daughter Evelyn snuggle up in Instagram photo.

Emma — whose book, The Unexpected Journey, is out now — recently told PEOPLE that her husband’s diagnosis “requires a calm and serene” environment, saying her decision to move Bruce to a second home nearby gave their daughters their lives back.

“We have two young children, and it was just important that they had a home that supported their needs and that Bruce could have a place that supported his needs,” she added.

“The kids can have playdates and sleepovers [again] and not have to walk around tiptoeing.”

And with the diagnosis, Emma said that every family’s situation is different, but this is what works for their family.

“Dementia plays out differently in everyone’s home and you have to do what’s right for your family dynamic and what’s right for your person,” she told PEOPLE.

“It’s heartbreaking to me.

But this is how we were able to support our whole family, [and] it has opened up Bruce’s world.”

The Unexpected Journey:

Finding Strength, Hope, and Yourself on the Caregiving Path is available now wherever books are sold.