As Bruce Willis’ family has recently revealed that the movie star is retiring from acting after being diagnosed with aphasia – a language disorder that affects a person’s ability to communicate – sources from the film industry suggested that signs possibly hinting that Willis might be “struggling” emerged about four years ago, the New York Post’s Page Six reports.
According to the newspaper, two production industry sources said Willis appeared “slightly off” on the set of M. Night Shyamalan’s movie “Glass” filmed in 2017 and 2018.
“Bruce seemed a little confused at times and needed a little more help with his lines. This was the first time that I had heard anything about his health”, said one source.
“At that point it seemed that he was a little off. We thought it could be anything from aging to maybe even being a little drunk — common mistakes that people make when seeing the first signs of anything like dementia — to just not wanting to be there”, they added. “In reflection, Bruce may have been struggling with all of this back then”.
Earlier, Willis’ longtime stunt double Stuart F. Wilson mentioned that they had seen "some changes" in the actor over the past year, although it wasn’t immediately clear that something was wrong.
He also remarked that, when he met Willis about two weeks ago, the actor seemed “just a little leaner than normal”, but “not emaciated”.
On Wednesday, Bruce Willis’ family said in a statement released on social media that he is retiring from acting after being diagnosed with aphasia - a language disorder that affects a person’s ability to communicate.