SAN FRANCISCO, July 2 -- Danny Glover knew, even as he stood at the Academy Awards podium in 2022 receiving his honorary Oscar, that something was changing inside him. He just hadn't told anyone yet.

The actor, now 79, disclosed publicly for the first time on Wednesday that he was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease that same year, a revelation that reframes not just a career but the meaning of its final chapters. In an NBC interview conducted by veteran journalist Lester Holt at his home, Glover was candid about what the disease has taken and what, so far, it has not.

"I could live with it, in a sense," Glover told NBC. "I'm sure as it advances, things are going to be different and changing."

That he is still speaking at all, thoughtfu...