On Wednesday, the 52-year-old Bad Moms star told her followers on X, “There are things I want to do with the days I have left in life.”
Among them, Applegate said she wants to work with Shirley MacLaine, the Oscar-winning Terms of Endearment actor, and take shots with Cher.
For those who would fret Applegate’s post was a message that her days are numbered, the actor cleared the air.
“And yes my days are so big,” she wrote. “Just saying.”
There are things I want to do with the days I have left in life. I want to work with Shirley MacLaine And do shots with cher! And yes my days are so big. Just saying.
Applegate revealed her MS diagnosis in 2021. MS is a degenerative autoimmune disease that impacts the brain and spinal cord. The condition comes with a range of symptoms, from muscle stiffness to vertigo and bladder issues, though the experience can vary in severity from person to person.
Since her disclosure, the Emmy-winning actor has spoken candidly about MS and how it affects her day-to-day life.
On Tuesday, Applegate opened up on her podcastMeSsy (co-hosted by actor Jamie-Lynn Sigler, who is also diagnosed with MS) about how the disease affects her independence and ability to perform normal tasks. The actor joked she is unable to shave her body while in the shower without falling over.
In an experience she said would be relatable to others with MS, Applegate said she must “sit on the floor of your shower and contort yourself in strange ways” in order to groom.
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For Applegate, this sort of candid humour about the pain and awkwardness of living with MS is part of coping.
During a 2022 appearance on The Kelly Clarkson Show, Applegate said her “humour shield” is what keeps her OK.
“But of course, down on the insides, you feel the things and I do it to kind of deflect and then also make people not be scared to be around me,” she confessed. “When people see me now as a disabled person, I want them to feel comfortable. That we can laugh about it.”
“I live kind of in hell,” Applegate, 52, told “Good Morning America” co-anchor Robin Roberts about her battle with MS. She was diagnosed with the disease in 2021.
“I’m not out a lot, so this is, like, a little difficult, just for my system,” Applegate said. “But, yeah, of course, the support is wonderful, and I’m really grateful.”
PHOTO: Good Morning America’ co-anchor Robin Roberts speaks with actresses Jamie-Lynn Sigler and Christina Applegate. (Eric Mccandless/ABC)
“I actually kinda blacked out,” Applegate said. “People said, ‘Oh, you were so funny,’ and I’m like, I don’t even know what I said. I don’t know what I was doing. I got so freaked out that I didn’t even know what was happening anymore.”
She continued, “And I felt really beloved, and it was really a beautiful thing.”
PHOTO: Actress Christina Applegate and Actor Anthony Anderson speak onstage during the 75th Emmy Awards at the Peacock Theatre at L.A. Live in Los Angeles on Jan. 15, 2024. (Valerie Macon/AFP via Getty Images, FILE)
Applegate walked onstage at the Emmys with the aid of a cane, an assistance made necessary by MS, an autoimmune disease in which the body attacks myelin, the tissue that surrounds nerves, including those in the brain and spinal cord, according to the National Institutes of Health.
It is an unpredictable disease, one that causes different symptoms with variable timing and frequency in different people, from fatigue, numbness or tingling, weakness, dizziness and vertigo to rendering a person unable to write, speak or walk in the most severe cases, the NIH says.
PHOTO: Good Morning America’ co-anchor Robin Roberts speaks with actresses Jamie-Lynn Sigler and Christina Applegate. (Eric Mccandless/ABC)
The average age of the start of symptoms for people with MS is between the ages of 20 to 40, and the disease is three times more common in women than men, according to the NIH and the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, a nonprofit organization focused on raising MS awareness and increasing research.
Tune into “Good Morning America” on Tuesday, March 12, from 7 a.m. to 9 a.m. ET for more of Robin Roberts’ interview with Christina Applegate and Jamie-Lynn Sigler.
As part of her surprise appearance, Applegate, 52, presented the award for best supporting actress in a comedy series to The Bear star Ayo Edebiri.
Prior to doling out the prestigious award, Applegate, who in 2021 was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS), took to the stage using a cane wearing a crimson-coloured, velvet Christian Siriano gown. Emmys host Anthony Anderson escorted Applegate on stage to the tune of Frank Sinatra’s Love and Marriage, the theme song of the Applegate-led 1980s and ’90s sitcom, Married… with Children.
Applegate at first hid her face against Anderson’s shoulder as the crowd of celebrities rose to their feet in cheers and applause.
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“Thank you so much. Oh my god,” Applegate gasped, visibly emotional.
Even still, the beloved actor cracked jokes, telling the audience that they were “shaming me with disability by standing up.”
Since her MS diagnosis, Applegate, like many patients, has had to use a wheelchair and other mobility aids to combat the degenerative autoimmune disease. MS, which impacts the brain and spinal cord, brings on a slew of symptoms, from muscle stiffness to vertigo and bladder issues. Currently, there is no cure.
When the audience laughed, Applegate boasted that her body was “not by Ozempic,” a jab at the popular weight-loss drug used by many celebrities.
As she spoke, the crowd continued to cheer for Applegate, who playfully chided, “We don’t have to applaud every time I do something.”
Applegate was nominated for an Emmy as best lead actress in a comedy for Dead to Me but lost out to Quinta Brunson of Abbott Elementary.
Christian Siriano, who designed Applegate’s Emmys gown, shared a behind-thescenes glimpse of the actor in her glam before the Emmys ceremony.
“This incredible woman #christinaapplegate tonight in Siriano silk velvet for the #emmys. Let me tell you MS is a nasty disease and this beauty is so strong and just inspiring,” the designer wrote on Instagram. “Tonight she is nominated and so deserves this.”
Applegate earlier said her last public appearance as an actor would be at the Screen Actors Guild Awards in February 2023.
In May, Applegate told Vanity Fair she will likely not return to acting due to her diagnosis, ending her decades-long successful career. Instead, Applegate said she can see herself potentially continuing to work as a producer or voice actor.
Applegate has been a familiar face in TV and movies since her appearance as Kelly Bundy in Married… with Children. She’s also held a starring role in the Bad Moms movie franchise, the 1991 film Don’t Tell Mom the Babysitter’s Dead and 2002’s The Sweetest Thing.
Canadian chef Matty Matheson steals the show with spicy Emmy speech
Christina Applegate talked about living with multiple sclerosis in an interview with Vanity Fair, saying she may give up acting on camera due to the challenges of the disease.
Applegate, who first revealed her diagnosis in 2021, said with MS, “It’s never a good day.” The exact cause of MS is unknown, but it affects the central nervous system and can cause symptoms like fatigue, numbness, pain, memory problems and even blindness or paralysis. People with MS may experience it differently and its varying symptoms may last for differing lengths of time, according to the National MS Society.
“You just have little s***** days,” Applegate said. “People are like, ‘Well, why don’t you take more showers?’ Well, because getting in the shower is frightening. You can fall, you can slip, your legs can buckle. Especially because I have a glass shower. It’s frightening to me to get in there.”
“There are just certain things that people take for granted in their lives that I took for granted. Going down the stairs, carrying things—you can’t do that anymore. It f******* sucks. I can still drive my car short distances. I can bring up food to my kid. Up, never down.”
Christina Applegate attends a ceremony honoring her with a star on the Hollywood Walk Of Fame on Nov. 14, 2022 in Los Angeles, California.
Emma McIntyre/Getty Images for Netflix
Applegate told Variety MS affects her balance and she said because she is immunocompromised, she doesn’t like to be around many people. So, friends don’t visit often. “I also don’t want a lot of stimulation of the nervous system because it can be a little bit too much for me. I like to keep it as quiet and as mellow as possible,” she said, adding that being loud crowds are “like 5,000 times louder for anyone who has lesions on their brains.”
Applegate said filming the third and final season of the TV show “Dead to Me” in 2021, during which she found out she had MS, was a “trying and taxing time.” She said now that the show has wrapped, she misses her co-stars. “I miss the experience of it, but at the same time, because it was such an incredible struggle this last year, I’m relieved that I no longer have to push so hard to get through my day.”
There are no tests to diagnose MS, but doctors look for similar signs and symptoms. While there is no known cure for the disease, symptoms can be treated with hopes of preventing them and slowing the progression of the disease, according to the Mayo Clinic.
Some people may have mild cases that require no treatment, others may take anti-inflammatory drugs, do plasma treatments, or disease-modifying therapies – however, those can come with more health risks.
Actress Selma Blair, who worked with Applegate on the film “The Sweetest Thing,” was also diagnosed with MS in 2018. In an interview with “CBS Mornings” this week, Blair said she was “always sick” since her early 20s and was diagnosed with optic neuritis, a common symptom of MS, but did not know she had MS until her 40s.
“When I got the diagnosis at late 40-something, it seems, I was surprised — but then I was like ‘Oh of course,’ and when the doctor said the first night, ‘You’ve had this at least 25, 30 years, at least,’ I was happy. I needed it,” Blair said.
Christina Applegate revealed that she may not be returning to set in the near future as her multiple sclerosis (MS) progresses. The Married with Children alum was diagnosed with the chronic autoimmune disease back in 2021.
In a profile with the Los Angeles Times, Applegate said that the upcoming Screen Actors Guild Awards will be her “last awards show as an actor probably, so it’s kind of a big deal.”
Applegate is nominated for outstanding performance by a female actor in a comedy series for her role as Jen Harding in the dark Netflix show Dead to Me.
MS is a degenerative disease that attacks the central nervous system. It can affect vision, memory, balance and mobility and common symptoms include muscle stiffness, vertigo and cognitive impairment. Currently, there is no cure, according to the MS Society of Canada.
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Applegate told the LA Times that she plans to continue working on producing and developing, but acting on-set may be out of the question given her current condition.
“Right now, I couldn’t imagine getting up at 5 a.m. and spending 12 to 14 hours on a set; I don’t have that in me at this moment,” she said, though Applegate does plan on “doing a sh-t ton of voice-overs to make some cash to make sure that my daughter’s fed and we’re homed.”
I have a very important ceremony coming up. This will be my first time out since diagnosed with MS. Walking sticks are now part of my new normal. Thank you @neowalksticks for these beauties. Stay tuned to see which ones make the cut for a week of stuff. pic.twitter.com/O543p1G4vS
Applegate revealed her MS diagnosis in August 2021, while shooting Dead to Me’s third and final season. The show had to take a break from shooting after Applegate began to experience “leg pain and tremors,” leading to her diagnosis.
The actor insisted on returning to finish the season, even as the disease progressed, which proved to be a vulnerable experience.
“I was a wreck every day, but most of that wreck would take place in my trailer by myself,” Applegate said. “But there were times I’d break down on set and be like, ‘I can’t, we have to take a break, I need a half-hour,’ and everyone was so loving that it was OK.”
Applegate spoke about how meaningful it was to act alongside co-star and friend Linda Cardellini, who plays Judy Hale in the Netflix comedy, saying that sometimes the “set would disappear.”
“Everyone kind of disappeared, and it was the two of us as best friends, supporting each other, loving each other and saying goodbye to each other. I’d like to say there was skill involved, but really, Linda and I just disappeared.”
The final season of Dead to Me aired in November 2022, but Applegate said it took her “months” before she was able to watch it.
“I don’t like seeing myself struggling,” she told the LA Times. “Also, I gained 40 pounds because of inactivity and medications, and I didn’t look like myself, and I didn’t feel like myself.”
“At some point, I was able to distance myself from my own ego and realize what a beautiful piece of television it was. All the scenes I wasn’t in were so much fun to see and experience for the very first time,” she added.
Canada has one of the highest rates of MS in the world, with an estimated 90,000 Canadians living with the disease, according to the MS Society. About 12 Canadians are diagnosed with MS every day.
Study: 12 Canadians diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis daily
Christina Applegate revealed that the upcoming Screen Actors Guild awards could mark an incredibly poignant milestone in her career, due to her recent diagnosis with multiple sclerosis.
“It’s my last awards show as an actor probably, so it’s kind of a big deal,” the actor said in a new interview with the Los Angeles Times, published on Tuesday.
Applegate is up for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Comedy Series at the ceremony, marking her sixth nomination ever.
The actor, who recently wrapped the final season of her Netflix hit, “Dead To Me,” told the outlet that she couldn’t “imagine getting up at 5 a.m. and spending 12 to 14 hours on a set; I don’t have that in me at this moment.”
Applegate confessed that she even found it hard to watch the last season of the show, as she doesn’t “like seeing myself struggling.”
Christina Applegate attends a ceremony honoring her with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on Nov. 14, 2022, in Los Angeles.
Emma McIntyre via Getty Images
“Also, I gained 40 pounds because of inactivity and medications, and I didn’t look like myself, and I didn’t feel like myself,” the actor said.
“At some point I was able to distance myself from my own ego, and realize what a beautiful piece of television it was. All the scenes I wasn’t in were so much fun to see and experience for the very first time,” she added.
As for what the future holds next, the “Anchorman” star said she’s “doing a s**t ton of voice-overs to make some cash to make sure that my daughter’s fed and we’re homed.”
Applegate disclosed her multiple sclerosis diagnosis publicly in August 2021.
This disease, which affects the brain and spinal cord, can include symptoms like weakness in the legs and body, fatigue, slurred speech, loss of vision and dizziness.
Humour is helping Christina Applegate get through her health issues.
This week, the “Dead to Me” star is on “The Kelly Clarkson Show”, and talks to the host about how she’s used humous to help get through disabilities caused by her MS diagnosis.
“My humour shield keeps me okay. But of course, down on the insides, you feel the things,” she explains. “I do it to kind of deflect, and then also to make people not be scared to be around me. When people see me now as a disabled person, I want them to feel comfortable that we can laugh about it.”
She then reveals, “I have a song that I wrote,” before singing it for Clarkson.
“Disaby baby, hurry down the chimney tonight,” she sang to the tune of “Santa Baby”. “I can’t, cause the wheelchair won’t fit down it.”
Applegate continued, “To be honest, being diagnosed with MS last year, and what had happened to my body, to my mind, to my spirit, to my everything, of course I didn’t want to be around anyone, or talk about it.”
She added of her Netflix series, “But I had to go to work. I was not forced to go to work, but I made sure that we finished the show. We had to finish the show … there’s a story that we needed to finish. And I pushed as hard as I could through that.”
The actress went on, “It was really incredibly difficult, and then I went to sleep for a few months, and then all of a sudden I have to come out again and be this person that, you know, people had seen me as this other person for the last almost 40 years, and I’m different now. And it’s incredibly hard.”
Jen (Christina Applegate) and Judy (Linda Cardellini) travel to Mexico after Jen is diagnosed with terminal cancer. When Jen wakes up to find a goodbye note from Judy, she walks out onto the beach and notices that their sailboat is gone.
“I left things ambiguous in certain respects on purpose,” Feldman explained to Deadline. “You’ve spent a lot of time with these characters. I feel like our audience almost has their own relationship with Jen and Judy, and I wanted them to be able to interpret for themselves what they felt like was the end. I didn’t feel that I needed to hit you over the head with it or have any sort of formal ceremony to mark a closure.”
She continued: “I wanted it to feel like grief itself feels, which is that you love someone, you have these beautiful relationships, and then one day they’re gone, and you’re left to put the pieces together yourself.”
In the final moments of the show, Jen admits that she has something she needs to tell Ben (James Marsden), however, viewers don’t find out exactly what that is.
Many fans have assumed that she was going to tell him the truth about killing Steve.
“I just wanted it to be satisfying. I wanted it to be cathartic,” Feldman added, “I wanted it to feel like an emotional experience that we were all going through together as an audience. It’s a lot of pressure to end a series, so I went with the feelings that I was hoping to produce in the audience and worked backward from there.”
Walking barefoot along Hollywood’s iconic Walk of Fame on Monday, award-winning actor Christina Applegate was beaming as she accepted her own mark among the stars. It was Applegate’s first public appearance in more than a year, since she disclosed in August 2021 that she had been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis.
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA – NOVEMBER 14: (L-R) David Faustino, Katey Sagal, and Christina Applegate pose with Christina Applegate’s star during her Hollywood Walk of Fame Ceremony at Hollywood Walk Of Fame on November 14, 2022 in Los Angeles, California.
/ Getty Images
“This day means more to me than you could possibly imagine,” she said as she accepted her star decades after she got her start in the industry.
The actor, who will be 51 on November 25, has starred in dozens of productions, landing her first iconic role as Kelly Bundy in “Married… with Children” in 1987. She went on to star in “Don’t Tell Mom the Babysitter’s Dead,” “Anchorman,” “Samantha Who?” and most recently, “Dead to Me.”
Then in 2021, she said that she had been diagnosed with MS, a disease that attacks the central nervous system. Fellow actor Selma Blair has also been diagnosed with the disease, which can cause communication issues and pain, as well as cause people to lose their ability to see and walk, among other symptoms.
Speaking at the ceremony welcoming her to the Hollywood Star Walk of Fame on Monday, Applegate got emotional as she spoke abut the significant role her friends and family have played in her journey with MS.
“I don’t say that I have friends, I have family. These people take care of me. They take care of me every day of my life and without them, I don’t know what I would do,” she said, before addressing “the most important person in this world” – her 11-year-old daughter Sadie Grace LeNoble.
Christina Applegate tears up while thanking her family for always “taking care of her” as she receives her star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. 💖 pic.twitter.com/p4LxJsyp9y
“You so much more than even you know. You are so beautiful and kind and loving and smart and interesting and I am blessed every day that I get to wake up and take you to your school,” she said to her daughter. “You are my everything. Thank you for standing beside me through all of this.”
In between the tears, she turned to the cameras and said, “Oh by the way, I have a disease, did you not notice? I’m not even wearing shoes.”
Applegate tweeted a photo from the event of her standing barefoot on her star, explaining her reasoning for doing so.
Barefoot. For some with MS the feeling of shoes may hurt or make us feel off balance. So today I was me. Barefoot pic.twitter.com/eJBGg1Wyug
“For some with MS, the feeling of shoes may hurt or make us feel off balance,” she said. “So today I was me. Barefoot.”
Many of her closest co-stars attended the event, including “Dead to Me” partner Linda Cardellini and “Married… with Children” co-stars Katey Sagal, who portrayed her mother Peggy Bundy, and David Faustino who played her brother, Bud Bundy.
Christina Applegate made her first public appearance since announcing that she was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in August of 2021.
On Monday, the “Dead To Me” actress was honoured with the unveiling of her star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame “for her strength and versatility in theatre, film and television,” in which she has “proven herself to be one of Hollywood’s most influential leading ladies,” as the Walk of Fame Producer, Ana Martinez, stated ahead of the event.
Prior to the celebration, Applegate, 50, also told The New York Timesthat it would be the “first time anyone’s going to see me the way I am,” while opening up about how life has changed since her diagnosis.
“I put on 40 pounds; I can’t walk without a cane,” she continued. “I want people to know that I am very aware of all of that.”
During the special ceremony, Applegate was joined by Katey Sagal, who played her mother in the beloved sitcom “Married… with Children”, and David Faustino, who portrayed her brother in the popular series which ran from 1987 to 1997. Also in attendance was Applegate’s “Dead To Me” co-star, Linda Cardellini, and creator, Liz Feldman.
Christina Applegate thanks her daughter for her support as she receives a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame: “Thank you for standing beside me for all of this. Oh, by the way, I have a disease. Did you not notice? I’m not even wearing shoes!” https://t.co/YpWGxW0eDupic.twitter.com/EZSJBGeMHm
“I just want to say I’m truly honoured to be a part of history in the making today,” said Faustino, who recalled the first time he met Applegate during auditions for the show. “The following 10 years were quite a wild ride. Christina and I are truly like brother and sister, even to this day.”
He thanked his former co-star for “inspiring me to be fearless” and shared that he’s “so proud” of Applegate’s “body of work” while praising her “powerhouse” performance in “Dead to Me”.
During Sagal’s turn to speak, she celebrated her former on-screen daughter for being “so effing famous” and praised Applegate’s “humility, humour, grace, fortitude [and] bravery.” She also told the actress that she’s been “high on my list of life’s teachers since you were 16.”
“You know sweetheart, some of us come into this life requiring broad shoulders because what’s coming at us needs support to bear it. Broad enough to hold what shows up,” she said. “I’ve seen you, the high highs of love and enormous success coupled with extreme challenges, but you came in with those shoulders and you bear the weight and you bend and you don’t break.”
Sagal went on to express how she loves that, to this day, Applegate still calls her “mommy.”
“I love you so much, my sweetheart, you’re not alone, we love you,” she concluded.
(L-R) David Faustino, Christina Applegate, Katey Sagal, and Amanda Bearse attend the Hollywood Walk of Fame Ceremony honouring Christina Applegate at Hollywood Walk Of Fame on November 14, 2022 in Los Angeles, California.
— Photo: Phillip Faraone/Getty Images
When Feldman took the mic, she called Applegate “a lioness” on set and “den mother to all,” explaining that she always looked out for her fellow castmates.
As for Cardellini, she got emotional while stepping up to the podium, sharing that one of the reasons she signed on to the dark comedy was because she knew Applegate was attached.
“She is one of the greats,” Cardellini said, before sharing that she’s made a “friend for life” in the actress who “has an incredible ability to make you feel at home” and “treats everyone with respect.”
(L-R) Liz Feldman, Christina Applegate, and Linda Cardellini pose with Christina Applegate’s star during her Hollywood Walk of Fame Ceremony at Hollywood Walk Of Fame on November 14, 2022 in Los Angeles, California.
— Photo: Phillip Faraone/Getty Images
Eventually Applegate made her way up to the podium with the support of her cane and Sagal, who helped hold her up.
“It’s so Katey to steal the thunder and be behind me,” Applegate joked before beginning her speech.
“I can’t stand for too long, so I’m going to thank the people that I really need to thank. First of all, for my family who has spoken here today, you are my everything. I love that I started with you two and I ended with you two,” she said of her coworkers and co-stars who spoke before her. “You are my people, you are my loves.”
Christina Applegate and Katey Sagal speak onstage during the Hollywood Walk of Fame Ceremony honouring Christina Applegate at Hollywood Walk Of Fame on November 14, 2022 in Los Angeles, California.
— Photo: Phillip Faraone/Getty Images
The “Friends” star then thanked her agent, along with the rest of her team, before getting emotional as she turned to her family.
“Lastly, the most important person in this world is my daughter. You are so much more, you are so much more than even you know,” she said, while turning towards her 11-year-old daughter, Sadie. “I am blessed every day that I get to wake up and take you to you school. You are my everything. Thank you for standing beside me through all of this — oh, by the way, I have a disease, did you not notice? I’m not even wearing shoes. You’re supposed to laugh at that!”
Additionally, in the audience were Applegate’s mother, Nancy Priddy, her husband, Martyn LeNoble, whom she shares Sadie with, fellow “Married… with Children” actress, Amanda Bearse and her “The Sweetest Thing” co-star Selma Blair, who also has MS.
(L-R) Sadie Grace LeNoble, Martyn LeNoble, Christina Applegate, guest, and Nancy Priddy pose with Christina Applegate’s star during the Hollywood Walk of Fame Ceremony at Hollywood Walk Of Fame on November 14, 2022 in Los Angeles, California.
— Photo: Phillip Faraone/Getty Images
Applegate’s star, located at 7007 Hollywood Boulevard, is adjacent to the stars of Sagal and Ed O’Neill, who played her father on “Married… With Children”. The ceremony for the “Going the Distance” actress comes just three days before the third and final season of “Dead To Me” premieres on Netflix.
For more on Applegate’s Hollywood Walk of Fame star, check out the live-streamed video of the ceremony in the video below.
Christina Applegate has opened up about the difficulties of living with multiple sclerosis, and the signs of illness — such as numbness and a tingling sensation in her limbs — that arose years before her formal diagnosis.
“I wish I had paid attention,” she said during an interview with the New York Times published Tuesday, “But who was I to know?”
Applegate recalls feeling off-balance while filming her Emmy-nominated Netflix series, “Dead To Me,” and struggling during a tennis match before receiving an official diagnosis while on the set of her show. Production shut down for nearly five months as she began treatment for the disease, according to the Times.
“There was the sense of, ‘Well, let’s get her some medicine so she can get better,’” the actress said. “And there is no better. But it was good for me. I needed to process my loss of my life, my loss of that part of me.”
Moderator Alyssa Mastromonaco, Christina Applegate, Linda Cardellini and creator Liz Feldman attend “Dead To Me” #NETFLIXFYSEE For Your Consideration panel discussion at Netflix FYSEE on June 3, 2019, in Los Angeles, California.
Amy Sussman via Getty Images
While there was a question as to whether filming of “Dead To Me” would be able to resume, Applegate insisted on pushing through by using a wheelchair to get to set and having a friend occasionally hold her legs off-camera. Some changes were even made to the script to accommodate energy and stamina levels during filming.
“I put on 40 pounds; I can’t walk without a cane. I want people to know that I am very aware of all of that,” said Applegate.
MS affects nearly 1 million adults in the U.S., and can be disabling. Most people receive an MS diagnosis between the ages of 20 and 40 and the disease is more common in women than men, according to the Cleveland Clinic, a nonprofit academic medical center. Symptoms can include numbness or weakness in the limbs, electric-shock sensations that occur with neck movements, or tremors. MS can also affect vision and speech, cause dizziness and fatigue, and in cases like Applegate’s, impact one’s general mobility.
There is no known cure for the disease. But according to Mayo Clinic, treatments can help to speed recovery after attacks.
Applegate has been transparent on Twitter about her difficulties living with MS, showing photos of the assistive devices she uses to walk, chronicling the insomnia that’s accompanied her diagnosis, and even showing love to a fellow Hollywood star Selma Blair, who was diagnosed with the disease in 2018.
Blair, who was a contestant on the current season of “Dancing with the Stars,” said that recent MRI results prompted her to leave the show, citing “bone trauma and inflammation among rips and tears” that could worsen with continued movement. Blair published a memoir that delves into her illness, titled “Mean Baby,” earlier this year.
In 2021, Blair starred in a documentary that chronicled her worsening health after her diagnosis, “Introducing, Selma Blair.” Applegate lauded Blair for her transparency, she wrote, “My girl Selma Blair documented the first year. Which is hard.”
“Being technically disabled is what it is,” Applegate tweeted. “I didn’t know what MS was before I had it. My life is changed forever.”
In an interview with the New York Times, Applegate, 50, discussed how filming the last season of the Netflix series Dead to Me was the “hardest thing” she’s ever had to do.
“This is the first time anyone’s going to see me the way I am,” Applegate told the New York Times. “I put on 40 pounds; I can’t walk without a cane. I want people to know that I am very aware of all of that.”
The Emmy-winning actor revealed her MS diagnosis last year; MS is a degenerative autoimmune disease that impacts the brain and spinal cord. There is a myriad of symptoms, from muscle stiffness to vertigo and bladder issues.
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Symptoms vary from person to person and in degrees of severity. It’s a lifelong condition with no known cure.
Christina Applegate reveals multiple sclerosis diagnosis
“It’s been a strange journey. But I have been so supported by people that I know who also have this condition,” Applegate tweeted in 2021. “It’s been a tough road. But as we all know, the road keeps going. Unless some a–hole blocks it.”
For Applegate, filming the new season of Dead to Me — a dramedy in which she plays Jen, a widowed real estate agent — was no easy feat. She decided to participate fully in the production despite her condition because she felt she had an “obligation” to the story and her on-set colleagues.
Applegate struggled to work as hard or as long as she’d previously been able to, especially in the heat. She had difficulty walking down the stairs of her trailer and had to often use a wheelchair on set. Some days, Applegate couldn’t work at all.
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Through savvy on-camera blocking (and the help of a sound technician and long-time friend who held up her legs for certain scenes), the season was completed.
The New York Times claimed Applegate’s illness is “nearly invisible” on screen.
Applegate told the outlet she wished she had paid more attention to the warning signs of MS, including dizziness and tingling and numbness of her extremities prior to diagnosis.
Though she claimed to have processed her illness, she has not accepted it.
“Acceptance? No. I’m never going to accept this,” she said. “I’m pissed.”
Still, she said she hopes fans of the show will be able to “get past” her change in appearance and enjoy the final season of Dead to Me.
“Hopefully people can get past it and just enjoy the ride and say goodbye to these two girls,” she said.
Canada has one of the highest rates of MS in the world, with an estimated 90,000 people living with the disease, according to the MS Society of Canada. On average, the organization states, 12 Canadians are diagnosed with MS every day, with most diagnosed between the ages of 20 and 49.
Christina Applegate is opening up about her struggle filming “Dead to Me” with multiple sclerosis.
The actress was diagnosed in 2021 with the disease which affects the brain, spinal cord and optic nerves, sometimes affecting coordination and mobility and causing fatigue.
While the Netflix show’s production was put on pause for a while during the pandemic, there was also concern whether Applegate would be able to return for the final season.
“I had an obligation to Liz 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,’” she recalled in an interview to the New York Times. “I said, ‘No. We’re going to do it, but we’re going to do it on my terms.’”
Applegate is learning to manage her new illness, which left her struggling to walk or stand at times, but she wished she had realized something was wrong earlier.
“There was the sense of, ‘Well, let’s get her some medicine so she can get better. And there is no better,” she said.
“Dead to Me” comes to a close with the final season, but the difficult experience filming has left her with little desire to watch it.
“If people hate it, if people love it, if all they can concentrate on is, ‘Ooh, look at the cripple,’ that’s not up to me,” said Applegate. “I’m sure that people are going to be, like, ‘I can’t get past it.’ Fine, don’t get past it, then. But hopefully people can get past it and just enjoy the ride and say goodbye to these two girls.”
Her performance in the show has led to two Emmy nominations for the actress and a close friendship with her co-star Cardellini.
