Christina Applegate.Photo: Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty
Discussing the impact the disabling neurological disease has on her everyday life in an interview withVanity Fairpublished on Thursday, theMarried with Childrenalum suggested that a chapter in her decades-long acting career has come to an end, explaining that she has no plans to return to the screen.
“I’m probably not going to work on-camera again,” Applegate, 51, said while praising the experience of working with Linda Cardellini on Netflix’sDead to Me, which debuted its third and final season in November 2022.
Applegate was diagnosed with MS in August 2021, while she was filmingDead to Me’s third season.
Multiple sclerosisis a disease that affects the central nervous system — the brain and spinal cord — and can cause problems with muscle control and strength, vision, balance, feeling and thinking. Symptoms include: numbness, tremor or lack of coordination. MS differs in each case, with some people going through life with only minor problems and others becoming seriously disabled.
Christina Applegate and Linda Cardellini in ‘Dead to Me’.Saeed Adyani/Netflix
After her diagnosis,Dead to Mepaused production so Applegate could begin treatment. When the series eventually wrapped, the actress spoke toVarietyin November 2022 about the future of her career, revealing that finishing the show with her symptoms was “as hard as you would possibly think it would be.”
She went on to explain that she’s seeking “a place that will allow me to [work five hours] if I’m not the star,” and that starring in something might be off the table in the future. “There’s no way I could do the work that I just came off again. I mean, it wassohard,” she said.
Christina Applegate.Leon Bennett/Getty
“Right now, I couldn’t imagine getting up at 5 a.m. and spending 12 to 14 hours on a set,” shetold theLos Angeles Timesin February. “I don’t have that in me at this moment.”
Still, Applegate — who shares daughter Sadie Grace, 12, with husband Martyn LeNoble — isn’t walking away from the business entirely. As she explained to theLA Times, she envisions herself “doing a s–t ton of voice-overs to make some cash to make sure that my daughter’s fed and we’re homed.”
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“I can’t even imagine going to set right now,” she added toVanity Fairlast week. “This is a progressive disease. I don’t know if I’m going to get worse. I can do voiceover stuff because I have to support my family and keep my brain working,” she said.
And that’s not it. “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,” she said toVariety. “I’ve got a lot of ideas in my mind, and I just need to get them executed.”
source: people.com
