Rumer Willis Says Bruce Willis and Demi Moore Gave Her a Childhood of "Whimsy and Magic"

Jul 24, 2026 by apost team

Rumer Willis has been thinking a lot about her childhood lately — not with the complicated feelings that often accompany growing up in the spotlight, but with something closer to uncomplicated gratitude. At 37, with a 3-year-old daughter of her own, she finds herself reaching back to what Bruce Willis and Demi Moore gave her and her sisters, trying to give it to Louetta in turn.

"I think the things that I really wanna help support her with, that I feel like can just get lost in the mix, are what my parents always taught me — to have respect,"

she told PEOPLE in an exclusive interview. "It wasn't just that they told me to have respect, but the way they modeled it without even saying it."

The interview was tied to her role as the first Global Ambassador for at-home hormone tracker Mira — but the most resonant parts of the conversation were not about the partnership. They were about her parents, who divorced in 2000 and have remained close friends, and what it felt like to grow up in their orbit. Willis, born Aug. 16, 1988, was speaking both as their daughter and as a mother herself — drawing a direct line between the childhood she was given and the one she wants to give.

Bruce Willis, born March 19, 1955, was diagnosed with aphasia in 2022 and frontotemporal dementia in 2023, and retired from acting. Demi Moore, born Nov. 11, 1962, has remained one of his closest supports — showing up for him, for their daughters, and for the family they built and kept after the marriage ended.

What Rumer told PEOPLE was the most specific version of that gratitude she has ever offered.

The specifics arrived in two forms: the respect she watched her parents model, and the freedom they gave her to be exactly herself.

On set, she said, both parents were consistent. "No matter who it was, always said 'Hi,' were unbelievably gracious, made sure to meet everybody and treated everyone with the same level of respect," she told PEOPLE. "And that's something that, as an adult, I have seen not occur in different arenas of my life. There shouldn't be a hierarchy, and no matter what job you have, you should treat everybody with respect."

On childhood more broadly, the description she offered was warmer. "They let us wear whatever we wanted to school and let us be weird," she said.

"Just whimsy and magic and so much silliness. I remember my sisters licking my face when I was a little kid and my dad doing silly stuff. There would be kids on vacation being silly with their siblings, and the parents would be like, 'Ew, that's so gross,' but they're just being silly kids." She added:

"I think it's so important to let kids be kids and let them discover the world. That's something I'm so grateful to my parents for."

Rumer shares Louetta with ex-boyfriend Derek Richard Thomas, from whom she separated in 2023. She has spoken warmly about their co-parenting dynamic — and credited her parents' example as the reason she knew it was possible to do it well.

"[Louetta] is such a gift, honestly," she told PEOPLE. "Becoming a mother has been the most transformative and life-changing thing. Letting her have space to grow does so much. And it's been incredible to watch."

apost.com

Are you a fan of Rumer Willis and her family? Do you think the way Bruce Willis and Demi Moore raised their daughters is one of Hollywood's most beautiful co-parenting stories? Let us know in the comments and pass this on to your family, friends, and other fans out there!