Bruce Willis *used* to be a Big Movie Star. He used to star in giant films, making buckets of money. But in recent years he’s largely kept himself to low-to-no budget terrible films, usually showing up for only a few minutes of screen time (long enough to end up on the DVD box art as a major selling point). And even then, his acting has been lackluster in the “I don’t give a crap” or “just phoning it in” variety.

Well, I guess now we know why:

Bruce Willis diagnosed with aphasia, ‘stepping away’ from acting, family reveals

Aphasia affects a personas ability to communicate and understand communications. People can start throwing unrelated words into sentences, sometimes gibberish words; and sometimes they lose the ability to communicate entirely. It sounds awful. And it’s the sort of thing that would make an actor… no longer a *good* actor.

Aphasia usually pops up after a stroke or other brain injury, but perhaps it can also sneak up slowly. If that’s the case, perhaps that’s why he’s been in so many films that honestly didn’t demand – or get – much from him. Looking at his IMDB page, he still has a lot of these Z-grade movies in development; the last major films he was in with sizable roles seem to be “Death Wish” from 2018 and “Glass” from 2019. Curiously, the last movie on the list, “Paradise City,” currently in post-production, had a respectable $20 million budget and Willis is the lead.