Related Articles
Arnold Schwarzenegger knows the golden rule: Actions stars stick together.
Schwarzenegger shared his praises for fellow action star Bruce Willis, who announced his retirement from Hollywood after following hisfrontotemporal dementia diagnosis. “I think that he’s fantastic,” Schwarzenegger told CinemaBlend. “He … is a huge, huge star. And I think that he will always be remembered as a great, great star, and a kind man.”
He continued, “I understand that under his circumstances, health-wise, that he had to retire. But in general, you know, we never really retire. Action heroes, they reload.”
Schwarzenegger and Willis famously shared the screen in the Expendables franchise and co-founded the Planet Hollywood restaurant franchise alongside Sylvester Stallone.
In February, Willis’ family announced that the actor had beendiagnosed with frontotemporal dementia(FTD), a rare disease that will greatly affect the actor’s quality of life. The announcement came nearly a year after this family said theDie Hardactorwould be “stepping away” from his careerafter being diagnosed with “aphasia,” which had been “impacting his cognitive abilities.”
In announcing the FTD diagnosis, Willis’ family said, “Unfortunately, challenges with communication are just one symptom of the disease Bruce faces. While this is painful, it is a relief to finally have a clear diagnosis… Today there are no treatments for the disease, a reality that we hope can change in the years ahead. As Bruce’s condition advances, we hope that any media attention can be focused on shining a light on this disease that needs far more awareness and research.”
