According to a crew member on the set of the crime thriller "Midnight in the Switchgrass," Bruce Willis, in one of his last roles before revealing his aphasia diagnosis, exhibited symptoms of forgetting he was on a movie set. The prop master, Alicia Haverland, shared in the documentary "The Randall Scandal" that during the filming of a diner scene, Willis appeared to genuinely believe he was in an actual diner. Haverland mentioned that when she poured him more coffee to reset the scene, Willis didn't seem to comprehend that they were filming and interacted with her as if she were a real waitress.
"I go over to repour the coffee, and we're probably doing take number seven or eight, and he puts his hand on the coffee, looks me dead in the eye, and goes, 'Oh no, ma'am, I don't want anymore,'" Haverland recalled in the documentary. She shared that she attempted to explain that she was refilling his cup for the scene, but he didn't grasp the concept. Instead, according to Haverland, he asked her if he had ordered more coffee.
In the documentary, Haverland described how she decided to play along and pretend to be a waitress, telling Willis that he had indeed ordered more coffee in order to complete the scene. She found his behavior "heartbreaking" to witness.
Haverland had previously discussed her experience working with Willis on "Midnight in the Switchgrass" in an exposé published by the LA Times in June 2022, which explored the allegations against Randall Emmett. This exposé served as the foundation for the new Hulu documentary.
"Our stunt coordinator mentioned he was struggling," Haverland said. "Our first AD saw he was struggling. You would have to be blind to not see him struggling."
According to several crew members on the set of "Midnight in the Switchgrass," Willis encountered difficulties understanding directions, particularly when it came to kicking open a door for a scene.
In the Hulu documentary, Haverland mentioned that when she first met Willis in 2020, he was "the sweetest, most soft-spoken man." However, due to his aphasia, he required an assistant to provide him with his lines through an earpiece he wore throughout filming.
"We should've said something," she admitted, expressing immense guilt for not advocating for Willis, especially considering Emmett's negative reactions to the star's confusion, which often led to him becoming agitated.
The LA Times revealed that despite allegations made by Lala Kent, Emmett continued to collaborate with Willis on five additional films, even after Kent claimed Emmett expressed sadness about working with Willis due to his confusion about his surroundings. In response, Emmett, through his lawyer, denied having any knowledge of Willis' health decline and refuted the conversation with Kent, which reportedly had two witnesses present.
As reported by the LA Times, Willis worked on the majority of his recent films with two production companies. One of them was Emmett/Furla Oasis, co-owned by Emmett, with whom Willis had collaborated on 20 projects.
In March 2022, Willis' family publicly announced his diagnosis of aphasia, a condition that can result in speech difficulties and challenges in writing and understanding language. Aphasia can sometimes occur following a stroke.
Willis' family announced that he was taking a step back from acting due to the impact of aphasia on his cognitive abilities. The exact cause of his condition was not disclosed. In February 2023, his family revealed that his condition had worsened and he had also been diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia, a degenerative condition that shares similarities with Alzheimer's, including memory loss.
A request for comment from Willis' representative by Insider went unanswered. However, in the LA Times article, his attorney Martin Singer provided a statement stating that it was Willis' personal decision to continue working despite his diagnosis.
Singer wrote, "My client chose to pursue his work following his medical diagnosis because he desired to do so and was capable, much like other individuals diagnosed with aphasia who are able to continue working. By participating in these films, they were able to secure financing, which in turn provided employment opportunities for thousands of individuals, many of whom were working during the COVID-19 pandemic."
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