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19 Jan 2026 19:27
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  •   Home > News > Entertainment

    Emma Heming Willis dec lares Die Hard a Christmas movie

    Since its release in 1988, millions of people have debated whether or not the action-thriller - which sees New York cop John McClane (Bruce Willis) rescue his estranged wife, Holly Gennaro McClane (Bonnie Bedelia) and others from being taken hostage by terrorists during a Christmas Eve party - is a holiday classic.


    And 47-year-old model Emma - who is married to Bruce - said the film gets her family into the festive spirit.

    She told People: "I think it's important to put Die Hard on because it's a Christmas movie."

    In 2018, Bruce, 70, weighed in on the Die Hard debate at The Comedy Central Roast of Bruce Willis.

    He said: "Die Hard is not a Christmas movie. It's a goddamn Bruce Willis movie!"

    The Hollywood legend retired from acting in 2022, after he was diagnosed with aphasia - a language disorder that affects a person's ability to speak, understand, read or write - that same year.

    In 2023, Bruce's condition later progressed to frontotemporal dementia (FTD) - a group of brain disorders affecting personality, behaviour, and language.

    But despite his ongoing health battle, Emma insists Christmas will still be joyous for the Willis clan.

    The businesswoman - who has daughters Mabel, 13, and Evelyn, 11, with Bruce - added to People: "There is still joy. It just looks different."

    Emma understands that the holidays can be "so hard" for families of those suffering from dementia.

    She added: "You have to learn and adapt and make new memories, bring in the same traditions that you had before.

    "Life goes on. It just goes on. Dementia is hard, but there is still joy in it.

    "I think it's important that we don't paint such a negative picture around dementia."

    Elsewhere, Emma recently expressed her anger with how she and Bruce had "no hope, no direction [and] no support" when he was diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia.

    She told Yahoo!: "The day we received the diagnosis, we walked out of that appointment with nothing - no hope, no direction, no support.

    "I wasn't really given any information other than just the nuts and bolts of FTD.

    "In looking back, I just think that's so crazy. It was such a traumatic experience, like your whole life is being ripped from you in a moment.

    "After that appointment, I started digging into research online to really understand: What was this diagnosis? How does it impact my husband? How does it impact our family?

    "With FTD, those early years are so hard because you're trying to figure it all out in real time and learning things on the fly. It's a progressive disease.

    "So in the beginning, your person can still manage some things, and then slowly the needs start changing and the things that they used to be able to do they can't do anymore.

    "You have to rev up the support."

    © 2026 Bang Showbiz, NZCity

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