Scout And Tallulah Willis Grew Up To Be Gorgeous
When Bruce Willis and Demi Moore got married in the late 1980s, everyone was talking about it. The same thing happened when they divorced — after all, they were the most famous couple in Hollywood back then, so it's not surprising that there was such a buzz.
Even though they've long since split up, however, Bruce and Demi will always be connected. That's because during their marriage, the couple had three children: Rumer, Scout, and Tallulah (can they pick baby names or what?). And while Rumer has been in the spotlight quite a bit over the years, her two younger sisters have flown a little more under the radar.
So what have Tallulah and Scout been up to since they've come of age? Are they going to be actors like their parents? How have the two sisters dealt with the pressures of the paparazzi and life in the public eye? Here's everything we know about Scout and Tallulah Willis, who have both grown up to be absolutely gorgeous inside and out.
Scout's nomadic upbringing
As fun as travel can be, growing up on the road can have its challenges. Fortunately, Scout seems to have a positive outlook on her nomadic upbringing. "Up until I was in the third grade... we'd live somewhere for three or four months at a time because my parents were working," she shared in an interview with StyleLikeU. So where did that take them? "We got to live in like Luxembourg and Las Vegas and Tennessee. ... I feel like we were very nomadic." She added that they lived in hotels for the most part, which sounds like it could be kind of fun for a little kid.
Work brought Bruce and Demi across the pond more than once, too, which meant that the kids had to go along for the ride with them. "When I was in the second grade we lived in France for four months," Scout added. So she was an international jet-setter younger than most people have ever traveled at all!
Tallulah's first seven years were free
Whereas Scout's early years sound a bit erratic due to her parents' work commitments, her younger sister Tallulah's early years sound downright idyllic. "I spent my first seven years running around in, like, 20 acres of trees and ponds, and we had this like river behind our house," she revealed to StyleLikeU. There, they would play in the water and enjoy the pristine Idaho wilderness. Maybe that's how far the family had to move to get real privacy?
Once they left the Idaho enclave, things got a little bit different. "Because I spent my early childhood on our ranch in Idaho, I hadn't processed the full extent of my family's fame until I moved to Los Angeles and started third grade," Tallulah said in an interview with Teen Vogue. And unfortunately, that move came with some consequences. "Then, suddenly, I didn't think I deserved what I had grown up with, and I remember thinking I couldn't have problems, so I kept everything bottled up inside," she continued. It would take some brave work on Tallulah's behalf to unpack and process these feelings down the road.
Demi made sure her girls know self-love
From the way Scout and Tallulah tell it, Demi Moore and Bruce Willis killed the parenting game while they were growing up. For one, Demi made sure that her kids' early days were free from even a shred of body shame. As Tallulah told StyleLikeU, "Growing up... our mom was very much just like, 'love your body, love yourself.'" Sound advice, Demi.
The girls also were able to run around naked and do whatever they wanted with their mom's blessing. Additionally, Bruce told his daughters that no matter what they do, it's important that they love it. That's some sagely advice from pops, too. And that solid, parental support has continued throughout the years. Scout told Elle magazine that Bruce and Demi are "totally behind me. They support me 100% in whatever I do, which is such a gift."
Tallulah does have one minor critique, though. "The only thing I'd say is they're a little protective," she informed StyleLikeU. As the baby, she felt like they wanted to hang onto her as long as possible. Who could blame them?
Tallulah had to fight to love herself
Tallulah has been open in recent years about her battles with body image. "I struggled a lot when I was younger. Like, I'm diagnosed with body dysmorphia," she revealed to StyleLikeU. Reading the tabloids when she was 13 didn't help, either, as that made her hate her face and feel ugly. She continued, "I believed the strangers more than the people that loved me, because why would the people who love me be honest?" Feeling trapped in her body and hating the way she looked, she started dressing as sexy as possible to divert the attention from her face. Eventually, she starved herself down to 95 pounds.
Fortunately, Tallulah was able to find a way to heal from her eating disorder and learn how to love her body. Plus, doing that hard work helped her discover just how beautiful she could feel. "That feeling you're supposed to have on your wedding day... why not have that every day?" she mused to StyleLikeU. "It's inside you the whole time! It's just you!" Louder again for the people in the back, please!
Scout sees celebrity as an art form
A lot of people like to hate on celebs and celebrity culture, dismissing it as vapid and empty. However, that's not how Scout sees it. "Celebrity has gotten pushed to a place of such absurdity because of the way we can consume images 24/7," she shared in an interview with Elle. "So the cool thing is that now it's become a kind of performance art, where certain celebrities — especially young women — are taking ownership of the invasiveness that comes with fame, and they're turning it on its head." She cites Miley Cyrus, Rihanna, and Kim Kardashian as women who have mastered this art.
Inspired by these women, Scout decided to take control of her celebrity in her own way. "I made my Instagram public because I wanted to have a little ownership of my public image," she continued. "Other people had been writing about me and my family for my whole life. And the stories out there — they didn't sound like me." Way to take back the narrative from the haters.
You can't take the L.A. out of Tallulah
Even though Tallulah looks back fondly on her Idaho years, she is a confirmed Southern California girl now. In an interview with StyleLikeU, she proclaimed, "I love L.A. so much." She explained that it's because there are a ton of things to do and places to explore. "You can go to the Hollywood Forever Cemetery, and you can see a movie projected on a mausoleum. You can go to, like, the ton of movie theaters on La Brea. You can go to any of the museums, like the LACMA, the MOCA," she gushed.
She also extolled the virtues of the La Brea Tar Pits, picnicking at Griffith Park, hiking Runyon Canyon Park and scoping out the sweeping views, and of course, the beach. "Every little aspect I would ever want is in this city," she added. Tallulah acknowledges that the stereotypical L.A. exists, but she's emphatic that you can ignore it in favor of all of the good stuff.
Scout fought to free the nipple
In 2014, Scout got decidedly political in a very public way. Specifically, she strode topless down the streets of New York City with a purpose: to protest Instagram's censorship policies. "My situation was in no way unique; women are regularly kicked off Instagram for posting photos with any portion of the areola exposed, while photos sans nipple — degrading as they might be — remain unchallenged," she penned in an article on xojane. "So I walked around New York topless and documented it on Twitter, pointing out that what is legal by New York state law is not allowed on Instagram."
The point of her protest goes beyond Instagram and its policies, too. "What I am arguing for is a woman's right to choose how she represents her body — and to make that choice based on personal desire, and not a fear of how people will react to her or how society will judge her," she continued. "No woman should be made to feel ashamed of her body." That's an important message for every woman, everywhere.
Writing must be in their blood
Both Tallulah and Scout share a love of creative writing, so there must be something literary in the Willis DNA. For one, Tallulah told StyleLikeU that she feels a sense of release while writing. "It was almost like this weird spiritual thing where like the words would like just come out of my fingertips," she revealed. Clearly she's able to tap into something important when she picks up a pen.
Scout's also talked about the role writing has had in her life, but it took some pushing to get there. In an interview with StyleLikeU, she said, "My mom was pushing me and saying like, 'why aren't you doing writing?'" That's because at the time she wasn't, even though she professed she was going to be a writer when she was younger. Looks like mom was just keeping her accountable.
But then, Scout had an awakening in one of her poetry classes, and the words tumbled out. "It's like I could feel my blood again," she said of the experience. We're keeping an eye out for those memoirs in a few years!
Finding serenity in recovery
The pressures of Hollywood and the expectation of perfection took their toll on the younger Willis sisters, but they've both found serenity and clarity in their respective recoveries. Acknowledging her accomplishments, Tallulah wrote on Instagram, "I don't push any agenda, I can only speak for my path and staying sober has been far and beyond the most important thing I've done in my wee 23 years." That's such a huge improvement from where she was previously. "I was so removed from my body and from my mind that it was like I was living in a cardboard replica of what life should be," she told Teen Vogue. It's awesome that she's left the dark times behind her.
Scout also celebrated a recovery milestone in 2017: one year of sobriety. She wrote about it on Instagram, saying "Last month on June 17 marked one year of being fully present with ma self, no filters, no chemical relaxation, no short cuts. I am meeting the best version of myself every day." More power to you, girl.
Both girls slay with their style
Take one look at the Willis girls, and you'll see how fashion forward they are. In fact, Scout actually curates her clothing as an artist would. She told StyleLikeU, "When I wake up, I kind of dress exactly how I'm feeling that day... depending on what kind of music I'm listening to, depending on what movie I just watched." Additionally, she likes to create narratives for herself that inform not only how she dresses, but also who she feels like that day. "If I need a certain kind of energy that day, like if I need to be like, a really strong female persona that day," she'll draw on her fashion choices to do it.
Tallulah, who used to take Scout's clothes when they were little, is also into fashion. "I think truly the best feeling in the world is leaving the house absolutely feeling so good about what you're wearing," she revealed to StyleLikeU. And she doesn't have to break the bank to get that feeling, as she scores all kinds of vintage and discount finds.
Getting the bumper stickers off the Bentley, so to speak
At one point, Tallulah was super into getting ink. In fact, in 2016, she told W magazine that she had whopping 28 tattoos. "Only a few of them have some deeper meaning for me, most of them just feel like little decor on the bod," she said. "I can't stop getting them, much to Mama's chagrin." We can just imagine what Demi had to say about that!
But Tallulah has had a change of heart in recent years, and has embarked on the long (and painful!) journey of tattoo removal. And she's pretty stoked about it, too. In an Instagram post, she wrote, "truly look forward to laser day every month, or as I call it, escaping the skin prisons left behind by hardcore YOLO'ng before my cerebral cortex was fully formed!!!!" She shares quite a few photos and videos of her journey on her Instagram page, too.
So no matter what your stance is when it comes to tattooing, it's wonderful to see Tallulah realize that her bod is definitely a Bentley — especially given her past struggles with body dysmorphia.
Scout's no slouch
Just because she was born into celebrity and wealth doesn't mean Scout had no other ambitions. In fact, she has several accomplishments under her belt, according to the New York Post. Most notably, she graduated from the prestigious Brown University in 2013. You may remember some salacious Tweets that she made during her tenure there; they were part of a class project about social media, according to People magazine.
In addition to her educational endeavors, Scout interned for Wes Anderson in the wardrobe department for his 2012 film Moonrise Kingdom, the New York Post reported. She also has been busy making and exhibiting visual art, as well as playing guitar and writing music, according to since-deleted posts on her Instagram page. Who knows — if you go to open mics in Los Angeles, you just might see her perform!
Only recently has she really gotten confident with her music, according to a post she once made on Instagram. We're waiting for the album, Scout!
Tallulah finally found her thing
In a 2014 interview with StyleLikeU, Tallulah shared that she had struggled to find her "thing," meaning her passion and creative outlet. "I couldn't draw. I couldn't play an instrument. I couldn't sing," she mused. So at the time, while she envied artistic abilities in others, she worried that creativity was not in the cards for her.
But that's definitely not the case anymore — artistically speaking, Tallulah has finally come into her own. In 2016, she discussed her creative endeavor with W magazine, revealing that she had emerged from a "cocoon of self judgment." That enabled her not only to realize that she can draw, but also that her drawings should be considered art. She credits the influence of Shel Silverstein and Egon Schiele for helping her realize she does indeed have a creative talent.
You can even order clothing with some of her minimalist-yet-quirky drawings on them, under her brand name Buuski. "I love these little freakniks that I make and trying slowly but steadily to learn that they (and I) are enough," she wrote on Instagram.
Scout's all about cultivating peace
Not everything is perfect in Scout's life, nor does she pretend that it is, but she's worked hard to cultivate peace and appreciate everything around her. It seems that the combination of sobriety and creativity have really allowed her to flourish. "I am so overwhelmed with gratitude for the love I feel all around me," she wrote in an Instagram post. That shows how good life can get when you open your heart to the love, girl!
She knows firsthand, too, that it can sometimes be challenging to not just recognize, but also to accept the love around her. "It's not always easy to accept it when you don't feel worthy of it but this is a big reset for me as I continually let go of all the patterns and outmoded notions of self that no longer serve me," she continued. That sounds like a super healthy place to be.