Christina Applegate says Dead to Me role is likely her last ever acting job following MS diagnosis
Christina Applegate says Dead to Me will most likely be her final acting role due to her health condition.
Starring in iconic sitcom Married... With Children and Anchorman, the 50-year-old has been one of the biggest names in Hollywood for decades.
However, in 2021, it was revealed that she had been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, a condition that affects the brain and spinal cord, and impacts movement.
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Most recently, Applegate has been seen on our screens in the hit series Dead to Me, a drama that centres on the friendship that forms between her character Jen, and Judy, played by Linda Cardellini.
The show recently finished production on the third and final season, which will air on Netflix later this month.
And Applegate said it was almost impossible for her to carry on some days.
Speaking to Variety, she said: "I got diagnosed while we were working, and I had to call everybody and be like, 'I have multiple sclerosis, guys. Like, what the f**k!' And then it was about kind of learning - all of us learning - what I was going to capable of doing.
"It had to be cold, because heat is our kryptonite. Can’t work those 18-hour days, you know? It was impossible.
"They were so loving. They actually were looking at the dailies, going, 'OK, we need we need to let her go, and take care of this right now'. Because you can see the struggle, and you can see it through the whole season. You can see that I’m in pain.
"I haven’t watched it, and I don’t think I will, because it’s too hard for me. But I couldn’t have done it without this need to tell our story."
Discussing her plans now that the series has ended and is about to air, Applegate said she can't take on another starring role because it takes too much out of her.
She said: "It’s about finding what I’m capable of doing. I’m so new in this right now. It takes time to kind of figure out this disease, and figure out what’s bringing on symptoms.
"I’m just a newbie to all of this. So I’m trying to figure it out — and I’m also in mourning for the person that I was. I have to find a place that’s as loving as my set was, where they won’t think I’m a diva by saying, 'Hey, I can only work five hours'.
"That’s trying to find a place that will allow me to do that if I’m not the star — because I’m not doing that again. There’s no way I could do the work that I just came off again. I mean, it was so hard.
"Right now, I’m enjoying being a mother."
And she said she thinks that this most likely will be it for her acting career, though she's not closing the door on the industry completely.
"I don’t know," said the mum. "I’m pretty convinced that this was it, you know? But who knows — I’m probably gonna get real bored of being in my room.
"I’d like to develop stuff, I’d like to produce stuff. I’ve got a lot of ideas in my mind, and I just need to get them executed."
Dead to Me will air on Netflix on 17 November.
Dominic Smithers