Finishing what she started. Christina Applegate opened up about filming the final season of Dead to Me amid her multiple sclerosis diagnosis — and how she was determined to do it on her own terms.
“I had an obligation to Liz [Feldman] and to Linda [Cardellini], to our story. The powers that be were like, ‘Let’s just stop. We don’t need to finish it. Let’s put a few episodes together,’” the actress, 50, shared in an interview with the New York Times on Tuesday, November 1. “I said, ‘No. We’re going to do it, but we’re going to do it on my terms.’”
Production for the Netflix show was put on pause during the pandemic and later raised concerns * about whether or not Applegate could return to film the final season. The Anchorman star, however, admitted that while the pause was difficult, it was also vital.
“There was the sense of, ‘Well, let’s get her some medicine so she can get better.’ And there is no better,” she said. “But it was good for me. I needed to process my loss of my life, my loss of that part of me. So I needed that time.”
The Emmy winner revealed that she had been diagnosed with MS in August 2021. According to the National MS Society, the disease affects the brain, spinal cord and optic nerves. It can also cause a wide array of side effects in its patients including numbness, tingling, mood changes, memory problems, pain, fatigue, blindness and paralysis.
“Hi friends. A few months ago I was diagnosed with MS,” Applegate wrote via Twitter at that time. “It’s been a strange journey. But I have been so supported by people that I know who also have this condition. It’s been a tough road. But as we all know, the road keeps going. Unless some a—hole blocks it.”
The Married … with Children star added, “As one of my friends that has MS said ‘We wake up and take the indicated action’. And that’s what I do. So now I ask for privacy. As I go through this thing. Thank you xo.”
Throughout her career, Applegate has been open about her health struggles including her breast cancer diagnosis in 2008. The Broadway actress had a double mastectomy and preventive surgery to remove her ovaries and fallopian tubes in 2017.
The Samantha Who? star isn’t the only star who has opened up about their battle with the chronic condition. Jack Osbourne, Jamie-Lynn Sigler and Applegate’s The Sweetest Thing costar Selma Blair have all shared their journey with the disease. The Cruel Intentions actress, also 50, went public with her MS diagnosis in October 2018 and recently had to pull out of this season of Dancing With the Stars due to health complications.
“I didn’t want to leave,” the Legally Blonde actress told Us after her exit on the competition series on October 17. “I had an MRI on my knee, and the doctor was like, ‘Ugh, if you can choreograph it in the pool or do something, you know, not weight-bearing.’”
