Rumer Willis Says Her ‘Silly’ Childhood with Bruce Willis & Demi Moore Is Something She Wants to Pass Down to Daughter Lou

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Growing up with Bruce Willis and Demi Moore as your parents was apparently just as unhinged as you would imagine. Their eldest daughter Rumer Willis, who is now 35 and a mom of her own to baby Lou, recently opened up about the “silly” and unique childhood she had, and it sounds so wholesome.

“I think what I love about both of my parents is they really cultivated our imagination and the freedom of our expression,” Rumer told The New York Post on Monday. For example, they encouraged her fashion. “We were allowed to wear whatever we wanted to school,” she said about herself and her sisters Scout, 32, and Tallulah, 29. “I have a photo of me where I’m wearing black-and-white striped tights with a tutu and a red suede fringe jacket. And that’s what we got to wear to school. We got to be so silly.”

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Home Life

Scout Willis, Bruce Willis, Rumer Willis, and Demi Moore (Photo by Ron Galella/Ron Galella Collection via Getty Images)
Scout Willis, Bruce Willis, Rumer Willis, and Demi Moore (Photo by Ron Galella/Ron Galella Collection via Getty Images)

The silliness didn’t just extend to school. The Willis girls were free to be themselves at home too, in whatever quirky, fun way they wanted. “I grew up in a house where we would lick each other’s faces, and my sisters and I would all — with my mom — we would all bathe together,” the Sorority Row actress continued. “And there was just a kind of crazy, silly, weirdo, goofy, naked house.” Um, that sounds awesome (and a little gross)! Despite having two A-list parents, Rumer and her sisters had a completely normal childhood — one where creativity and weirdness was encouraged. It sounds like a dream!

Because Rumer enjoyed the way she was raised so much, she hopes to create the same environment for her 9-month-old daughter, who she shares with partner Derek Richard Thomas. She told The Post, “I think that silliness and goofiness is so deeply a part of me, and it’s really what I want to help cultivate in [my daughter’s] life.”

Grandparent Names

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - SEPTEMBER 23: (L-R) Rumer Willis, Demi Moore, Bruce Willis, Scout Willis, Emma Heming Willis and Tallulah Willis attend Demi Moore's 'Inside Out' Book Party on September 23, 2019 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Stefanie Keenan/Getty Images for goop)
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA – SEPTEMBER 23: (L-R) Rumer Willis, Demi Moore, Bruce Willis, Scout Willis, Emma Heming Willis and Tallulah Willis attend Demi Moore’s ‘Inside Out’ Book Party on September 23, 2019 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Stefanie Keenan/Getty Images for goop)

The Once Upon a Time in Hollywood actress also talked about her dad, who is currently battling dementia. “He’s so incredibly loving and kind,” Willis said. “My dad is absolutely the reason I like my taste in music [and for] some of my humor.”

“Both of my parents are so silly . . . I’m just so grateful to have that kind of spark of mischief and fun and and play no matter what age I am,” she added.

Her parents both have special grandparent names, too. For the Die Hard star: “it was either Papu or Grand-Daddio,” Willis said. “Which I’m a big fan, because when we were kids, we called my dad Daddio.” So cute!

Moore goes by “Yaya.” “Lou really loves my mom, too,” she said. “You know that little FaceTime noise? If Lou hears that, she literally will turn her face towards the camera and immediately this ear-to-ear smile is plastered on her face. Then she gets to see her Yaya, and she loses her mind.”

Motherhood

BEVERLY HILLS, CALIFORNIA - NOVEMBER 29: (L-R) Rumer Willis and Derek Thomas attend the Los Angeles premiere of "Love Actually Live" at Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts on November 29, 2023 in Beverly Hills, California. (Photo by Michael Tullberg/Getty Images)
BEVERLY HILLS, CALIFORNIA – NOVEMBER 29: (L-R) Rumer Willis and Derek Thomas attend the Los Angeles premiere of “Love Actually Live” at Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts on November 29, 2023 in Beverly Hills, California. (Photo by Michael Tullberg/Getty Images)

In January, Willis reflected on her “incredibly dynamic” first year of motherhood. “I grew a human being, gave birth at home (with no drugs) surrounded by my family,” she wrote in part on Instagram. “Navigated a new relationship while being pregnant and postpartum, fell in love with the tiny love of my life Lou, softened, became less resistant to my own bullsh*t, threw pots on a wheel, did 6pm ocean swims 4x a week in the winter, learned about what real intimacy looks like, working on being the most honest authentic version of myself, healing my trauma so I don’t pass it on to my daughter, celebrated 7 years of sobriety … loved myself more than I ever have, felt more beautiful and comfortable in my skin than I ever have.”

She also experienced “moments of wonder at the tiny being who chose us, spent precious love filled moments with my Daddio [Bruce Willis], learned from my mama [Demi Moore], celebrated my first Mother’s Day and found strength in myself I didn’t know existed. I don’t know what this next year will bring but man I can’t wait to see what’s next.”

Whatever comes next, we know it’ll be beautiful!

These celebrities overcame their childhood trauma to be better parents to their own children.

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