Christina Applegate has recently shared a heartbreaking health update after being diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 2021.
The 50-year-old actress, who had also battled breast cancer in 2008, spoke to The New York Times about the status of her health as she completed filming the final season of Netflix's Dead to Me.
She told the outlet: "This is the first time anyone's going to see me the way I am. 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."
Multiple Sclerosis is a lifelong condition that affects the brain and spinal cord, and can potentially cause issues with sensation, vision, and balance, per NHS. Fellow actress, Selma Blair, also suffers from the condition, which was the subject of her 2021 documentary Introducing, Selma Blair.
The production of Dead to Me was halted for five months while Applegate sought treatment for her illness, as well as to give her an opportunity to mentally process her shock diagnosis, Hola reported.
"I had an obligation. The powers that be were like, 'Let's just stop. We don't need to finish it. Let's put a few episodes together [with previously recorded footage]," Applegate told The New York Times of the difficulties filming the show, stating: "There was the sense of, 'Well, let’s get her some medicine so she can get better.' And there is no better."
She later added: "I’m never going to accept this. I’m p***ed."
In the interview, Applegate revealed that she resorted to a wheelchair to help move around the set and that often a sound technician had to hold up her legs for certain shots. While the actress said she most likely won't watch the final season of her show, she wanted to finish shooting it for her co-star Linda Cardellini.
"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. 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," Applegate stated.
Dead to Me focuses on Applegate and Cardellini, two widowed mothers who strike up an unlikely friendship that becomes interwoven with lies and secrets.
The show's third and final season is set for release on Netflix on November 17.