Eric Dane found a new calling in his acting career amid his battle with ALS.
Fresh off his emotional guest role on the NBC show Brilliant mindsin which he plays a firefighter with ALS, Dane, 53, said that in the future he will pursue roles that incorporate his real-life illness.
According to the Mayo Clinic, ALS “is a disease of the nervous system that affects nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord” and results in loss of muscle control. Over time, people with this condition may experience muscle twitching, arm or leg weakness, difficulty swallowing, and/or slurred speech.
“I’m pretty limited in what I can do physically as an actor, but I still have my brain and I still have my word. So I’m willing to do just about anything. I’ll take a role. But I think from now on it’s going to have to be ALS-centric,” he said. Grey’s Anatomy said an alumnus during a virtual panel discussion on Tuesday, December 2 in collaboration with the advocacy organization I AM ALS, of which Dane is an ambassador.
The actor explained, “It’s going to be very difficult for me to play another role where… you know, look at the 800-pound gorilla in the room, and I’m fine with it. I’m grateful that I can still work in any capacity.”
Dane played Matthew, a firefighter with ALS who struggles to share his diagnosis with his family, in the November 24 episode of Brilliant minds.
During Tuesday’s panel, which also included the show’s creator Michael Grassi and consulting writer/producer Dr Daniela LamasDane explained how his own diagnosis helped inform his role.
Dane said: “Michael reached out to me, we got a few calls and had some pretty in-depth conversations that helped inform the story that you wanted to tell and the hardest thing for me to do was separate myself from the character because it was something so fresh, and it was something so real to me.”
“I’ve never played a character who’s going through something and something that I’m dealing with in real time, in real life as well,” Dane continued. “So it was difficult and there were times where it was very difficult for me to get the lines out. But overall, I was really grateful for the experience. I found it to be a little cathartic, and Michael and Daniela were so great and kind of took this tired old actor who could barely speak and put me in a position to be very successful, and I’m grateful to them for that.”
Grassi previously revealed that Dane received a 10-minute standing ovation on set while filming his episode.
“I’ve never seen this happen in my entire career, but he basically got a 10-minute standing ovation after filming that scene, because it was so beautiful and so honest and so real,” the showrunner said. The United States today in November.
“Also, even though his character finds courage, there’s also a lot of courage in Eric to tell the story. Coming out and sharing that part of yourself is vulnerable but also very important, and I think it raises awareness and shows people that they’re not alone,” Grassi added.
Dane first revealed his ALS diagnosis in a statement in April.
“I was diagnosed with ALS,” he said at the time. “I am grateful to have my loving family by my side as we embark on this next chapter. I feel fortunate to be able to continue working and look forward to returning to the wider community. Euphoria next week. I kindly ask that you give my family and I our privacy during this time.
