Eric Dane makes emotional guest appearance in ‘Brilliant Minds’ episode about ALS
Actor Eric Dane has made an emotional guest appearance during an episode of the US medical drama Brilliant Minds, which focused on ALS, amid his own battle with the disease.
The Euphoria star revealed earlier this year that he had been diagnosed with the devastating neurological condition, saying at the time that he felt “fortunate” to be able to continue working at the moment.
To this end, he has now used his experience in a new episode of Brilliant Minds, where he plays a firefighter diagnosed with ALS, otherwise known as motor neurone’s disease, who is struggling to tell his family about his condition and its prognosis.
Ahead of the episode being broadcast over Thanksgiving, the showrunner of Brilliant Minds, Michael Grassi, told The Hollywood Reporter: “We really wanted to honour him and his experience and be really truthful about it. [We] didn’t want to sensationalise in any way.”
Following Dane’s diagnosis, Grassi explained that the actor and his team reached out to those involved in Brilliant Minds to see if they could develop a storyline.
“We really wanted to honour Eric and step up and do this for him,” the showrunner added. “Cast, crew [and] writers — everybody really stepped up in such a beautiful way.”
Ever since he made the announcement that he is living with ALS, Dane has been honest about the effects of the condition, admitting in an interview on Good Morning America in June that the outlook is “sobering” as there is “a good chance” he will be “taken from [his] girls very young.”
The NHS states that the disease is life-shortening, and although research is still ongoing, there is currently no cure.
However, along with his starring role in Brilliant Minds, Dane has also committed to filming the third series of the HBO drama Euphoria, where he plays the character of Cal Jacobs.
Although a specific release date for the series has not yet been confirmed, the network previously teased that it would hit the screen in the spring of 2026, four years on from when its last series aired in 2022.
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