Eric Dane opens up about role as ALS patient after diagnosis: ‘grateful’

Eric Dane is giving insight into his experience as someone who has recently been diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and also into playing a character with the same disease.

The Grey’s Anatomy actor discussed his first-ever role since his announcement, which was of a character, that is a firefighter and 9/11 hero struggling to tell his family about his diagnosis in another medical drama, Brilliant Minds.

In a virtual panel with I AM ALS and Synapticure co-founders Brian Wallach and Sandra Abrevaya for Giving Tuesday along with the showrunners of the TV series that debuted last year, the beloved actor candidly reflected on his experience.

Eric said that he was grateful for his experience on Brilliant Minds, and that it felt very real and cathartic to him.

"I have no reason to be in a good spirit at any time, on any given day, I don't think anybody would blame me if I went upstairs in my bedroom, crawled under the sheets, and spent the next two weeks crying," adding that he was glad to discover that he isn’t this way.

"I make sure that people are aware of what ALS is and what it's about, and more importantly, what we can do to combat it and improve the landscape,” Eric went on to say later on, talking about how ALS has changed his life.

Eric noted that he is no longer selfish and that he has become much more interested in devoting his time and efforts to create awareness and to help causes to combat the disease for others.

What is ALS?

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, also known as ALS or Lou Gehrig’s disease is a disorder of the nervous system that affects the nerve cells in brain and the spinal cord. The rare condition worsens over time and patients lose control of their muscles.

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