Movies

Christina Applegate explains how life has changed since her MS diagnosis

November 2, 2022

Christina Applegate said she gained 40 pounds and used a cane after her MS diagnosis.
She refused to let changes in her health affect the ending of her Netflix series “Dead to Me.”
“Acceptance? No. I’m never going to accept that. I’m pissed off,” Applegate told The New York Times.

Christina Applegate got candid about how her body and mobility changed after her multiple sclerosis (MS) diagnosis in a recent interview with New York Times reporter Alexis Soloski.

“This is the first time anyone is going to see me as I am,” Applegate said, referring to the fact that the third and final season of his Netflix show “Dead To Me” will be released on November 17. 40 pounds, I can’t walk without a cane. I want people to know that I’m very aware of all of this.

The actress, who has worked in Hollywood since she was in kindergarten, said her self-awareness doesn’t mean she accepts the way her life has changed due to MS, a neurological disease that presents with symptoms varied but often affects vision, speech, and mobility, according to the US National Institutes of Health (NIH). It can also cause cognitive problems, including problems with attention, memory and concentration, the site reported.

Christina Applegate attends the ‘Dead To Me’ #NETFLIXFYSEE For Your Consideration event at Netflix FYSEE in 2019.

Amy Sussman/Getty Images

Multiple sclerosis occurs when the myelin sheath – a protective covering surrounding the nerves – is damaged. This damage disrupts nervous system communication between the brain and the body and can lead to some of the symptoms listed above.

“Acceptance? No. I’ll never accept that. I’m pissed,” Applegate told The Times.

She said looking back, a clear sign of her MS showed up in 2021 when she had balance issues while filming a dance sequence for “Dead To Me.” Years before, she reported feeling tingling and numbness in her body, but was officially diagnosed on the set of the Netflix comedy-drama in the summer of 2021.

Production was halted for about five months after Applegate’s diagnosis so she could receive treatment and “process my loss of my life, my loss of this part of me,” she said.

There’s even been talk of shutting down production entirely on the dramedy about two friends who meet in a bereavement group and then become entangled in all types of murder drama, while sharing bottles of wine, watching ” The Facts Of Life” and laughing to themselves.

Linda Cardellini and Christina Applegate star in Netflix’s “Dead to Me.”

netflix

Applegate – who plays the no-frills widow, real estate agent and mother of two alongside Linda Cardellini’s spacy, artsy, hippie foil Judy Hale – refused to end the story early. She said she had an “obligation” to Cardellini and series creator Liz Feldman, to finish telling the story as planned.

“I said no. We’re going to do it, but we’re going to do it on my terms,'” Applegate recalled. She defined those terms as she needed them when filming resumed.

Some accommodations included wheelchair transport to the set and fewer hours of work in the heat. Some days she couldn’t come to work at all. But The Times reported that changes to the script were rarely as necessary as adaptations to blocking a scene.

The ‘Bad Moms’ star told The Times she wouldn’t watch the final season of ‘Dead To Me’ because it would be ‘too painful’.

Applegate has been acting since she was in kindergarten.

Said Adyani / Netflix

As to whether her MS will be evident on the show or change the viewers’ experience, Applegate said she’s worried but tries not to care too much.

“If people hate it, if people love it, if all they can focus on is, ‘Ooh, look at the cripple’, that’s not for me to decide,” he said. – she says, adding that she hopes people can just enjoy the end of the show.

The final season of “Dead To Me” premieres November 17 on Netflix.