Eric Dane has no plans to stop acting after his amyotrophic lateral sclerosis diagnosis.
The actor, 53, announced in April that he was living with the incurable progressive neurodegenerative disease, and has been transparent about losing function throughout the right side of his body.
However, the actor’s dwindling mobility did not stop him from filming the newest season of Euphoria, nor from appearing in an episode of NBC drama Brilliant Minds as an ALS patient — and the Grey’s Anatomy alum recently said he wants to continue working until it is no longer possible.
“I’m fairly limited in what I can do physically as an actor, but I still have my brain, and I still have my speech, so I’m willing to just do about anything. I’ll take on any role,” Dane said while speaking Tuesday on a virtual panel with the I AM ALS organization.
“From here on out, it’s going to have to be ALS-centric. It’s going to be very difficult for me to play any other role. I’m fine with that. I’m grateful that I can still work in any capacity.”
Dane played a firefighter struggling to tell his family about his ALS diagnosis during his November episode of Brilliant Minds, marking his first on-screen role since he was diagnosed.
The actor said during the panel that the role was “cathartic,” even though he had a difficult time separating himself from his character. Dane went on to say he had been surprised by his own resilience while dealing with the disease.
“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,” he said. “And I was a little bit pleasantly surprised when I realized that I wasn’t built like that, because I thought, for sure, that was gonna be me.”
The dad of two said it had become his mission to serve as an inspiration to others, saying: “It’s imperative that I share my journey with as many people as I can because I don’t feel like my life is about me anymore.”
ALS currently has no cure. The disease slowly destroys nerve cells in the spinal cord and brain until patients become paralyzed.
After Dane was forced to miss his scheduled appearance at the Emmy Awards in September, he announced on social media that he had partnered with I Am ALS to raise research funds for the disease.
