Despite his ALS diagnosis, actor Eric Dane has returned to work. He appeared on the Thanksgiving episode of the show Brilliant Minds. Now, the creator of the show reveals that Dane received an emotional standing ovation on set that lasted 10 minutes.
Eric Dane was diagnosed with ALS, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, in April this year. In a statement to People Magazine at the time, he said, “I am grateful to have my loving family by my side as we navigate this next chapter,”.
The former Grey’s Anatomy star has since been very outspoken about the disease, which he, in October, called “nasty.” He was set to appear at their reunion at the Emmy Awards, but sadly, Dane had to cancel after a bad fall that left him hospitalized.
While appearing on Good Morning America, he revealed the first symptoms he felt. In the beginning, however, he didn’t think much about it.
“I started experiencing some weakness in my right hand, and I didn’t really think anything of it at the time,” Eric Dane explained. “I thought maybe I had been texting too much or my hand was fatigued. But a few weeks later I noticed it had gotten a little worse, so I went and saw a hand specialist, and he sent me to another hand specialist.”
The actor continued, “I went and saw a neurologist and they sent me to another neurologist and said this is way above [his] pay grade.”
Eric Dane received a 10-minute standing ovation on set in his acting return
The search for answers took nine months. Then, Dane was diagnosed with ALS. A year after the first symptoms had been noticed by him, the 52-year-old said, “I have one functioning arm, my dominant side is [my right], my left side is functioning, my right side is completely stopped working.”
Dane concluded. “My left arm is going, I feel like a couple few more months and I wont have my left either, it is sobering.”
While Eric Dane’s ALS diagnosis has changed his entire life, his passion for acting is not going away. Perhaps mostly known for starring as Mark Sloan on Grey’s Anatomy, he has now returned to the screen in the latest episode of Brilliance. Dane starred as a firefighter and 9/11 hero who had gotten ALS.
In one scene, Eric’s character recorded a message about seeking help for his issues, which prompted everyone to stand up, and gave him a standing ovation.
Speaking with USA Today, Michel Grassi, the creator of Brilliant Minds, explained that he had never seen it happen in his entire career. According to him, it was “essentially got a 10-minute standing ovation after shooting that scene.”
“Because it was so beautiful and so honest and so real,” Grassi told USA Today. “While his character is finding bravery, there’s a lot of bravery in Eric to tell the story as well. To come out and share this part of yourself is vulnerable but also really important, and I think raises awareness and shows people that they’re not alone,” he added.
Show creator says Dane was “so generous”
The episode’s story had a major theme of ALS and its impact on the patient and their family. Grassi explained that Eric Dane’s representatives reached out in September, wanting to shoot the episode. They worked together on the storyline.
In an interview with Deadline, Grassi explained that the episode is “this very simple idea of what is it like for a family to navigate a difficult diagnosis.”
He added, There’s no rule book. There’s no guide, there’s no right way, there’s no wrong way, and it’s really hard. So we just wanted to show, especially for our Thanksgiving episode, what is it like for a family to have to work through this together?”
Grassi said working on the episode’s storyline was vital, as it brought “honesty” to what thousands of Americans diagnosed with ALS each year go through.
“We wanted to meet him and his story in terms of where he [was] that day…when you’re dealing with a progressive illness, sometimes stuff changes every day,” Michael Grassi continued. “So we just really wanted to be open and collaborative and keep the conversation going every day.”
The filmmaker concluded, “The best part of the process was working with Eric and making sure that he felt great, and we felt great. He was just so generous on set, and it was a really good time getting to work with him.”
Please join us in thoughts and prayers for Eric Dane and thousands of ALS patients worldwide.
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