Christina Applegate talks 1st signs of MS while filming 'Dead to Me'
Christina Applegate recently reflected on the first sign of her multiple sclerosis while filming "Dead to Me."
During the Dec. 10 episode of "MeSsY" podcast, Liz Feldman, the executive producer of Netflix's show, praised Applegate for her dedication as an actor and collaborator on set.
Feldman spoke about Applegate's commitment to the character, noting how she helped set the tone for the series during the second day of shooting the pilot while filming a particular scene in a field.
Applegate also recalled that same day, sharing a different memory.
"I remember falling that day," she said. "Hi, first signs of MS. So, not to bring everybody down but there it was."
When Applegate asked if Feldman remembered the moment, Feldman replied, "I remember you losing your balance when we were shooting the pilot a couple of times,"
She continued, "It was very hard to figure it out because I remember one time it was like really late at night, we'd been shooting probably 14 or 15 hours. It seemed completely reasonable that anybody would be collapsing, you know?"
"It was MS," Applegate said.
Multiple sclerosis is an autoimmune condition in which the body attacks myelin, the tissue that coats nerve fibers within the central nervous system, consisting of the brain and spinal cord, according to the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke at the National Institutes of Health.
MS can be unpredictable, causing differing symptoms with variable timing and frequency from fatigue, numbness or tingling, weakness, dizziness and vertigo to rendering a person unable to write, speak or walk in the most severe cases, according to the NIH. Individually, MS symptoms can vary, ranging from mild to extreme pain during a flare-up of the disease.
There is currently no known cure for MS.
In 2021, Applegate publicly revealed her MS diagnosis, which was discovered after she was unable to walk on her own while filming the final season of "Dead to Me."
"My symptoms had started in the early part of 2021, and it was, like, literally just tingling on my toes," Applegate told "Good Morning America" in March. "And by the time we started shooting in the summer of that same year, I was being brought to set in a wheelchair. Like, I couldn't walk that far."
She also added during the interview that living with MS was "kind of hell."
"They call it the invisible disease. It can be very lonely because it's hard to explain to people," she said at the time. "I'm in excruciating pain, but I'm just used to it now."
