Christina Applegate said that it was difficult to watch herself in the third and final season of her dark comedy series for Netflix, Dead to Me, which was filmed in the midst of her multiple sclerosis (MS) diagnosis in 2021. In a new interview with The Los Angeles Times, published February 7, the 51-year-old opened up about her experience getting through it all.
While filming in 2021, Applegate began experiencing leg pain and tremors, which eventually led to her MS diagnosis. “I was a wreck every day, but most of that wreck would take place in my trailer by myself,” she told the LA Times. “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 okay.” The season, which began filming in May 2021, paused production to accommodate Applegate’s health issues in August, and wrapped production in early 2022, per The Hollywood Reporter.
Applegate said that it took her months to watch the final season Dead to Me, which dropped on Netflix on November 17, 2022. “I don’t like seeing myself struggling,” she said. “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,” Applegate continued. “All the scenes I wasn’t in were so much fun to see and experience for the very first time.”
Christina Applegate made her MS diagnosis public via social media in August 2021. “Hi friends,” she wrote. “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,” she wrote. “It’s been a tough road. But as we all know, the road keeps going. Unless some asshole blocks it.”
The National Multiple Sclerosis Society defines MS as an immune-mediated disease: “The immune system attacks the central nervous system (CNS) by mistake. The CNS is made up of the brain, spinal cord and optic nerves.” The cause of MS is still unknown, although scientists believe that “a combination of environmental and genetic factors” can contribute to the risk.
