It has been more than two decades since Donnie Wahlberg and Bruce Willis worked together in The Sixth Sense, which celebrates its 25th anniversary this year. Ahead of the big milestone, the Blue Bloods actor has spoken out about starring in the film — which was written and directed by M. Night Shyamalan — and he gushed over what it was like to work with Willis. Speaking exclusively to ET about the iconic movie, Wahlberg said, “In my time working with him, Bruce was so cool to me.”
He went on to say, “Bruce was so supportive… He just had my back… It was a great thrill to work with him and to get to know him.” In the film, Wahlberg played Vincent Grey, a man who dies by a self-inflicted gunshot in front of his former psychologist, Malcolm Crowe, portrayed by Willis. “Even the scene that we did together, it’s one scene, but I was watching him and as out of my mind as I was on that day, I was like, ‘He’s so technical. He hits his mark and then he goes to the emotion,’” Wahlberg said of the Hollywood legend. “He was just so helpful and supportive.”
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This year, it was revealed that Willis is living with frontotemporal dementia. The Alzheimer’s Association offers a detailed explanation of FTD, which “refers to a group of disorders caused by progressive nerve cell loss in the brain’s frontal lobes (the areas behind your forehead) or its temporal lobes (the regions behind your ears). The association also says nerve cell damage caused by FTD can lead to “loss of function in these brain regions, which variably cause deterioration in behavior, personality and/or difficulty with producing or comprehending language.”
Previously, Wilis was diagnosed with Aphasia. According to Johns Hopkins Medicine, “Aphasia is a language disorder caused by damage in a specific area of the brain that controls language expression and comprehension. Aphasia leaves a person unable to communicate effectively with others. Many people have aphasia as a result of stroke. Both men and women are affected equally, and most people with aphasia are in middle to old age.” The organization adds, “There are many types of aphasia. These are usually diagnosed based on which area of the language-dominant side of the brain is affected and the extent of the damage.”
