Christina Applegate told producers “we’re going to do it on my terms,” and continued filming after her multiple sclerosis diagnosis
If you’ve seen even a single episode of the hit Netflix series Dead to Me, you know that Christina Applegate is incredible in her role as Jen Harding. But what you might not know just from watching is exactly how dedicated Applegate is to that role — so much that after she was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS), she said she “felt an obligation” to finish filming the series’ final season, no matter what happened with her health.
In a new interview with the New York Times, Applegate opened up about how her diagnosis affected Dead to Me‘s third and final season, which she called the hardest thing she’s ever done.
“The powers that be were like, ‘Let’s just stop. We don’t need to finish it. Let’s put a few episodes together,'” Applegate said of the time just after she was diagnosed. “I said, ‘No. We’re going to do it, but we’re going to do it on my terms.'”
Production on the third season did shut down for a time while Applegate received treatment. She said that caused some people on the set to feel that, “there was the sense of, ‘Well, let’s get her some medicine so she can get better.'”
But Applegate explained, “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. So I needed that time.”
Multiple sclerosis is a progressive disease that affects the brain and spinal cord. Over time, it can cause weakness in the legs and other parts of the body, fatigue, slurred speech, and loss of vision.
As filming progressed, so did Applegate’s illness. She said she was forced to reckon with many new physical limitations that began while she was finishing the show.
“This is the first time anyone’s going to see me the way I am,” she said of the third season, which is set to premiere on Netflix on Nov. 17. “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.”
When Applegate went public with her diagnosis on Twitter last August, she wrote that “it’s been a strange journey.”
Hi friends. A few months ago I was diagnosed with MS. 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 asshole blocks it.
— christina applegate (@1capplegate) August 10, 2021
“But I have been so supported by people that I know who also have this condition,” she added. “It’s been a tough road. But as we all know, the road keeps going. Unless some asshole blocks it.”
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