Actor Eric Dane has admitted he has no reason to be in good spirits given his shocking motor neurone disease (MND) diagnosis.
Dane, who revealed earlier this year he had been diagnosed with the rare neurodegenerative disorder, admitted no one would be surprised if he spent two weeks in bed crying.
On Tuesday, the 53-year-old actor, who rose to fame on the medical drama Grey’s Anatomy, was speaking at a virtual event for the non-profit organisation I am ALS when he addressed the mental toll of the disease.
“I have no reason to be in a good spirit at any time, on any given day,” he said.
“I don’t think anybody would blame me if I went upstairs in my bedroom, crawled under the sheets, and spent the next two weeks crying.
“[But] I was a little bit pleasantly surprised when I realised that I wasn’t built like that, because I thought for sure that was gonna be me.”
MND, which in also known as Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) or Lou Gehrig’s disease, affects the motor nerves that allow a person to move, swallow, talk and breathe.
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It has an average life expectancy of just two-and-a-half years from diagnosis and is the same disease that claimed the life of Sandra Bullock’s partner Bryan Randall.
Dane has thrown himself into advocating for other sufferers and has become an ambassador for I Am ALS.
In October, he went to Washington as part of Push for Progress, which hopes to secure US$1 billion in funding to fight the disease.
“I think it’s imperative that I share my journey with as many people as I can because I don’t feel like my life is about me anymore,” he said this week.
“And it’s something I’ve had to wrestle with because I’m a pretty selfish person, and I’d love for my life to be all about me, but I just can’t – I don’t think I’d be able to move forward if that were the case.”
Dane said he was devoting himself to raising awareness of the disease, “and more importantly, what we can do to combat it and improve the landscape”.
“It’s so rocky and littered with hurdles and bureaucracy and all this other nonsense that we’re trying to sift through so we can get to a place where we go, start working on a solution,” he said.
Dane first shared his diagnosis in an exclusive interview with People.
“I am grateful to have my loving family by my side as we navigate this next chapter,” he said at the time.
“I feel fortunate that I am able to continue working and am looking forward to returning to the set of Euphoria next week.
“I kindly ask that you give my family and I privacy during this time.”
Dane has been married to actress Rebecca Gayheart since 2004. They welcomed two daughters, Billie and Georgia, before separating in 2018, but they put their divorce plans on hold following his diagnosis.
In June, he told Good Morning America journalist Diane Sawyer the first sign something was wrong was weakness in his right hand, which got worse over a few weeks.
By the time of the interview, he had lost all use of his right side.
While he acknowledged the seriousness of the diagnosis, he vowed not to give up.
“I don’t think this is the end of my story,” he said.
“I don’t feel like this is the end of me.”
Since then, he has been photographed struggling to walk and was pictured at an airport in a wheelchair.
His speech also appeared to be affected when he appeared in a video for ALS in September.
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Despite his health battles, Dane has vowed to keep acting for as long as possible.
Last month, The Hollywood Reporter revealed Dane would star in an episode of the medical drama Brilliant Minds as a heroic firefighter who was struggling to share his diagnosis with his family.
He said on Tuesday he hoped to keep acting but now understood he would only be able to play characters with the condition.
“I am fairly limited in what I can do physically as an actor, but I still have my brain and I still have my speech,” he said.
“So I am willing to do just about anything. I’ll take on a role. But I think from here on out, it’s going to have to be ALS-centric.
“It’s going to be very difficult for me to play any other role… and I’m fine with that.
“I’m grateful that I can still work in any capacity.” 
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