THE NORTHWESTERN MUTUAL LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY

Supplement dated May 13, 2016

STATEMENTS OF ADDITIONAL INFORMATION DATED MAY 1, 2016

NORTHWESTERN MUTUAL VARIABLE LIFE ACCOUNT

SUPPLEMENT TO THE STATEMENTS OF ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

VARIABLE LIFE

VARIABLE COMPLIFE^®

VARIABLE JOINT LIFE

VARIABLE EXECUTIVE LIFE

This Supplement amends certain information contained in the Statement of Additional Information referenced above dated May 1, 2016.

Effective immediately, page F-32 in the section titled, “Financial Statements of the Account” is hereby replaced in its entirety with the following:

Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm

To The Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company Board of Trustees and

Contract Owners of Northwestern Mutual Variable Life Account

In our opinion, the accompanying statements of assets and liabilities and the related statements of operations and of changes in net assets present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of Northwestern Mutual Variable Life Account and its Growth Stock Division, Focused Appreciation Division, Large Cap Core Stock Division, Large Cap Blend Division, Index 500 Stock Division, Large Company Value Division, Domestic Equity Division, Equity Income Division, Mid Cap Growth Stock Division, Index 400 Stock Division, Mid Cap Value Division, Small Cap Growth Stock Division, Index 600 Stock Division, Small Cap Value Division, International Growth Division, Research International Core Division, International Equity Division, Emerging Markets Equity Division, Money Market Division, Short-Term Bond Division, Select Bond Division, Long-Term U.S. Government Bond Division, Inflation Protection Division, High Yield Bond Division, Multi-Sector Bond Division, Balanced Division, Asset Allocation Division, Fidelity VIP Mid Cap Division, Fidelity VIP Contrafund Division, Neuberger Berman AMT Socially Responsive Division, Russell Multi-Style Equity Division, Russell Aggressive Equity Division, Russell Non-U.S. Division, Russell Core Bond Division, Russell Global Real Estate Securities Division, Russell LifePoints Moderate Strategy Division, Russell LifePoints Balanced Strategy Division, Russell LifePoints Growth Strategy Division, Russell LifePoints Equity Growth Strategy Division and, Credit Suisse Trust Commodity Return Strategy Division, at December 31, 2015, the results of their operations for the year then ended, and the changes in their net assets for each of the two years in the period then ended, in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America. These financial statements are the responsibility of The Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company’s management. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on these financial statements based on our audits. We conducted our audits of these financial statements in accordance with the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States). Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements are free of material misstatement. An audit includes examining, on a test basis, evidence supporting the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements, assessing the accounting principles used and significant estimates made by management, and evaluating the overall financial statement presentation. We believe that our audits, which included confirmation of investments owned at December 31, 2015 by correspondence with Northwestern Mutual Series Fund, Inc., Fidelity Variable Insurance Products, Neuberger Berman Advisers Management Trust, the Russell Investment Funds and Credit Suisse Trust, provide a reasonable basis for our opinion.

/s/ PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP

Milwaukee, Wisconsin

April 25, 2016

F-32

Please read this Supplement carefully and keep it with your Statement of Additional Information for future reference.

This Supplement is dated May 13, 2016.