Christina Applegate needed to have her ‘legs held up’ while filming Dead to Me with MS

Christina Applegate has given a new interview describing her behind-the-scenes struggles while filming the final season of Dead To Me.

Dead to Me star Christina Applegate has opened up about the obstacles she faced filming the final series of her hit Netflix show while battling multiple sclerosis, revealing she was unable to walk without a cane and needed to have “her legs held up” by crew members.

The 50-year-old actress was determined to round out the series, in which she stars with Linda Cardellini, but has given fans a heads-up that her character, pithy widow Jen Harding, will be portrayed a little differently this season.

“This is the first time anyone’s going to see me the way I am. I put on 40 pounds (18 kgs); I can’t walk without a cane. I want people to know that I am very aware of all of that,” she said in a new interview with The New York Times, explaining her resolve to finish the series and close the book on her character.

“I had an obligation. The powers that be were like, ‘Let’s just stop. We don’t need to finish it. Let’s put a few episodes together [with previously recorded footage].’ I said, ‘No. We’re going to do it, but we’re going to do it on my terms’,” she told the publication.

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Linda Cardellini and Christina Applegate in a scene from the hit Netflix series, Dead To Me.

But it was rather easier said than done.

“There was the sense of, ‘Well, let’s get her some medicine so she can get better’,” Applegate explained of her early diagnosis.

“There is no better,” she said, adding that pausing production of Dead To Me gave her time to “process (her) loss of (her) life” as she knew it.

It was filming the acclaimed series that the first signs of the disease appeared, Applegate says, recalling a dance scene in season one during which she lost her balance.

“I wish I had paid attention. But who was I to know?” she said of the moment.

Returning to set for the third and final season of the show in a wheelchair due to her declined mobility, Applegate revealed that a sound technician would hold up her legs for certain shots, and she would regularly lean against doors to stay upright.

There are also no shots of her walking into a room.

The actress can no longer walk without a cane. Picture: Jon Kopaloff/Getty Images.

In a heartbreaking admission, the star also said she wasn’t sure she could face watching the season back as it was “too painful”. She explained she was set on finishing the show for co-star Linda Cardellini and show creator Liz Feldman.

“If people hate it, if people love it, if all they can concentrate on is, ‘Ooh, look at the cripple,’ that’s not up to me. I’m sure that people are going to be, like, ‘I can’t get past it.’ Fine, don’t get past it, then. But hopefully people can get past it and just enjoy the ride and say goodbye to these two girls,” she said.

Production on season three was delayed after Applegate learned of her multiple sclerosis diagnosis.

Applegate revealed her MS diagnosis in August 2021.

“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,” Applegate tweeted of the news in August 2021.

“It’s been a tough road. But as we all know, the road keeps going. Unless some a**hole blocks it.

“As one of my friends that has MS said, ‘We wake up and take the indicated action.’ And that’s what I do. So now I ask for privacy as I go through this thing. Thank you xo.”

As one of my friends that has MS said “ we wake up and take the indicated action”. And that’s what I do. So now I ask for privacy. As I go through this thing. Thank you xo

— christina applegate (@1capplegate) August 10, 2021

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a condition of the central nervous system, interfering with nerve impulses within the brain, spinal cord and optic nerves, according to MS Australia.

Scars occur within the central nervous system and depending on where they develop can manifest into various symptoms ranging from mild to severe.

It’s not the first health battle Applegate has faced. In 2008, the Married with Children star battled breast cancer and underwent a double mastectomy.

The Anchorman star wrote her breast cancer battle into her character’s story on Dead To Me. Picture: AFP.

James Marsden, who stars in Dead To Me alongside Applegate, credited his co-star’s enduring strength in an interview with Entertainment Tonight.

“Nothing is going to keep her down, and she is going to battle and fight through anything,” he said, adding. “I admire her as a person.

“Anything life will throw at her, she will figure out a way to not let it keep her down, and she is doing exactly that. It’s really inspiring to see.”

The Anchorman star shared an update with fans last month as she prepares for her first major public appearance since her diagnosis.

I have a very important ceremony coming up. This will be my first time out since diagnosed with MS. Walking sticks are now part of my new normal. Thank you @neowalksticks for these beauties. Stay tuned to see which ones make the cut for a week of stuff. pic.twitter.com/O543p1G4vS

— christina applegate (@1capplegate) October 27, 2022

“I have a very important ceremony coming up,” she wrote alongside a snap of five different walking sticks.

“This will be my first time out since [being] diagnosed with MS. Walking sticks are now part of my new normal,” she continued, telling fans to “stay tuned to see which ones make the cut for a week of stuff”.

The final season of Dead to Me will be available on Netflix on November 17.