Multi-award-winning actress Christina Applegate has admitted that Netflix show Dead to Me may have been her last acting role as she continues her battle against multiple sclerosis (MS).
The 50-year-old Married With Children star went public about her health problems in August 2021, just as she was filming the third season of Dead to Me, where she plays the role of bereaved widow Jen Harding.
At the time, Christina made an announcement on social media, writing, “Hi friends. A few months ago I was diagnosed with MS. It’s been a strange journey. But I have been so supported by people that I know who also have this condition. It’s been a tough road. But as we all know, the road keeps going. Unless some a**hole blocks it.”
Season 3 of Dead to Me is out this Thursday, but sadly for fans of the show, it will be the final season. And for fans of Christina, it is doubly distressing because the actress said this would likely be her final role.
Christina recently spoke to Variety, and in an at-times emotional interview, she admitted, “Jen Harding is the one, who — who knows, quite possibly the last one I’ll play. I don’t know how capable I am.”
The actress held back tears as she described Season 3 as a gift, “But this was a gift. This was a gift to me.”
Christina Applegate began feeling ill on the set of Dead to Me
Christina also explained that she started feeling the symptoms of MS in January of 2022 but, at first, didn’t realize what the issue was. She said, firstly, her toes went numb, followed by numbness in the rest of her feet.
The actress ignored the problem until she began to lose her balance and the team at Dead to Me had to move her about the set in a wheelchair.
Netflix gave the actress a couple of months off filming so she could come to terms with the diagnosis and find treatment, but after that, she was back at work.
Sadly, this isn’t the first healthcare Christina has suffered. In 2008, she was diagnosed with breast cancer and had a double mastectomy.
Christina Applegate receives a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame
On Monday, Christina Applegate will finally have her Hollywood Walk of Fame star unveiled, following a delay due to the pandemic. The star took to Twitter in late October to admit that the ceremony would be her first time out in public since her diagnosis.
She showed a selection of walking sticks, telling her fans, “sticks are now part of my new normal” and that they would soon see which stick she chose to receive the honor.
The first two seasons of Dead to Me are available to stream on Netflix, and Season 3 premieres on Thursday, November 17.