Eric Dane‘s Brilliant Minds role pulled from his actual life as his character learned to lean on his family amid a deteriorating battle with ALS.
During the Monday, November 24, episode of the NBC series, Dane, 53, played a patient named Matthew, who struggles as his ALS progresses and his symptoms make day-to-day life more difficult. Matthew initially refused to tell his ex-wife and daughter what was going on, though he eventually revealed he was struggling.
After denying the changes he would have to make to adjust to his health issues, Matthew chose to move back in with his family. He acknowledged that he couldn’t face his struggles without his loved ones by his side.
“The act of rescue is often linked to things like heroism and bravery. But for guys like me, I’ve always looked at it as an act of caring,” Eric’s character said in an emotional voiceover. “I guess I never saw myself as the one who needed to be cared for.”
Matthew noted that he needed to shift his perspective.
“But I know now that even on my hardest of days, you and your mom will be there to save me from many fires that may come our way,” he continued. “Sometimes the most heroic thing you can do isn’t running into the burning building. It’s quieter, smaller but in a way harder — at least for me.”
He added: “Letting you and your mother in, accepting help, agreeing to this voice banking business that Dr. Pierce has been talking about [is] allowing myself to be rescued — even when I don’t want to. For me, this is the bravest thing I’ve ever done. And it’s scary as hell. But it is worth it if it means more time with you.”
Dane’s role on Brilliant Minds is his latest as he continues to battle ALS. He is also set to reprise Cal on Euphoria, played Blythe on Countdown and will appear in the upcoming series Kabul.
“I have been diagnosed with ALS,” Dane said in an April statement. “I am grateful to have my loving family by my side as we navigate this next chapter. I feel fortunate that I am able to continue working and am looking forward to returning to set of Euphoria next week. I kindly ask that you give my family and I privacy during this time.”
Dane recalled when he originally noticed symptoms of the illness that causes muscle control while affecting nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord.
“I started experiencing some weakness in my right hand. And I didn’t really think anything of it at the time, I thought maybe I’d been texting too much and my hand was fatigued,” Dane explained on Good Morning America in June. “A few weeks later, I noticed it’d gotten a little worse. I went and saw a hand specialist, who sent me to another hand specialist. I went and saw a neurologist, and the neurologist sent me to another neurologist and said, ‘This is way above my pay grade.’”
Dane waited nearly a year to receive his diagnosis. “I will never forget those three letters, [ALS]. It’s on me the second I wake up,” he said. “It’s not a dream.”
Dane continued: “I have one functioning arm. … My left side is functioning. My right side, [which is my dominant side], has completely stopped working. [My left arm] is going. I feel like maybe a couple, a few more months and I won’t have my left. … I’m worried about my legs.”
The actor said he felt “angry” about dealing with the condition. “Very. I’m angry because my father was taken from me when I was young. And now there’s a very good chance that I’ll be taken from my girls when they’re very young,” he explained, referring to his daughters with Rebecca Gayheart. “I mean, I really, at the end of the day, all I want is to just spend time with my family and work a little bit if I can.”
Dane credited his neurologist for giving him hope about slowing the progression of the disease.
“I would have thought I would have been the hide under the sheets kind of person, but that’s not been the case,” Dane told Extra about Dr. Merit Cudkowicz in July. “My attitude and spirit has been pretty buoyant. I am just kind of riding it. Not every day has been great, but the net is, I have a pretty good life.”
Brilliant Minds airs on NBC Mondays at 10 p.m. ET. New episodes stream the next day on Peacock.
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