BRUCE BOWS OUT

The veteran actor is retiring after being diagnosed with aphasia

- NASIFA SULAIMAN

HE'S always been a force to reckon with on-screen, whether he's fighting baddies, being a baddie himself or playing a funny guy.

So when a confused Bruce Willis asked, “Why am I here?” on the set of his new movie, people were concerned. And their fears weren't unfounded.

Fans were shocked when his family recently announced the 67-year-old Hollywood veteran would be stepping away from the big screen because of a degenerative brain disorder that affects his ability to communicate.

“Bruce has recently been diagnosed with aphasia, which is impacting his cognitive abilities. As a result of this and with much consideration Bruce is stepping away from the career that has meant so much to him," his eldest daughter, Rumer Willis, shared on social media in a statement signed by her a stepmom, Emma Heming Willis, her sisters, Scout and Tallulah, and her half-sisters, Mabel and Evelyn.

Yet while the announcement stunned his fans, it emerged concerns around Bruce's cognitive abilities had been circulating in the industry for years especially after he twice fired a blank gun on the wrong cue on the set of the movie Hard Kill in 2020.

Last month, several people who'd worked with Bruce expressed concern about his wellbeing.

“Everybody knew something was wrong - the cast and crew,” a source says. “Bruce was using earpieces, hearing things, for them to feed him the lines and it was increasingly difficult to have him on screen”

After news of Bruce's aphasia diagnosis broke, Stuart F Wilson, Bruce's stunt double of 17 years, acknowledged the actor had noticeably changed over the past year. They last worked together in December and Stuart recalls Bruce being “side-tracked" when he spoke to him.