Actress Christina Applegate is sharing new details about her battle with multiple sclerosis, and discussing whether her chronic condition will end her acting career.
Applegate, 54, told "Good Morning America" co-anchor Robin Roberts she has not yet accepted her MS diagnosis, which she announced in 2021.
"It still sucks, Robin. It really does," Applegate told Roberts in an interview that aired Tuesday on "GMA." "I have so many friends who have MS. And we talk to each other constantly. And I don't have one that says, 'I'm great.'"
"There is no great. There's a better day and a less s----- day," Applegate said. "This is a lifelong disease with no cure. Period."
Multiple sclerosis is an autoimmune condition in which the body attacks myelin, the tissue that coats nerve fibers within the central nervous system, consisting of the brain and spinal cord, according to the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke at the National Institutes of Health.
MS can be unpredictable, causing differing symptoms with variable timing and frequency from fatigue, numbness or tingling, weakness, poor bladder control, dizziness and vertigo to motor and coordination problems that render a person unable to write, speak or walk in the most severe cases, according to the NIH. Individually, MS symptoms can vary, ranging from mild to extreme pain during a flare-up of the disease.
There is currently no known cure for MS and typical treatment consists of medications to reduce flares and slow the progression of disability.
When asked by Roberts where she is with the grieving process of living with MS, Applegate replied, “Where am I at with acceptance? Not at all. I hate it.”
Applegate shared that her role as mother to her teenage daughter, Sadie, whom she shares with husband Martyn LeNoble, helped carry her through her battle with the disease.
"I wake up every day and go, 'I'm Sadie's momma.' And that, to me, is why I'm still here," Applegate shared, saying she wants "visceral joy" for her daughter.
In her wide-ranging interview with Roberts, Applegate also touched on her willingness to return to acting. Applegate was diagnosed with MS while starring in her last major acting role, Netflix's "Dead to Me," which concluded in 2022.
“I’d love to,” Applegate said of taking on more acting roles, adding with a laugh, “As long as I didn't have to get up really early and no one touches my face or my hair.”
The “Dead to Me” star has penned a brand-new memoir, “You With the Sad Eyes,” out on March 3. Applegate told Roberts that her memoir is her life story told through the pages of her most intimate diary entries.
"It's been a long time in the making of just over my entire life, you know, talking to my friends or therapists or whatever and they're like, 'You should write this down.' And I'm like, 'Well, I do.' I have my journals,” the actress told Roberts in an interview at 1 Hotel West Hollywood that aired Monday on "GMA."
The memoir takes readers through Applegate’s tumultuous childhood growing up in Laurel Canyon, California, and through her young adult years and burgeoning career.
“Madness/Pounding in my brain/Why, I don’t know/Will you please hold me/Because I’m insane /And I don’t know what to do./How can I be happy one moment?/And feel like dying in the other?” reads one portion dated May 31, 1989.
"Those things that I wrote in those diaries and my journals were locked in a box," Applegate said of revisiting her past to compose the memoir. "It was like I never wanted anyone to see them. And for some reason, I was like, 'All right. Let's open it up.'"
Much of her motivation to write a deeply personal memoir came from feeling alone herself and wanting to help others, according to Applegate.
"I know there's a lot of people who have been abused and have lived, like, really hard times. And I just felt like I'm here for you," she said.
In the memoir, Applegate details past abuse, including a situation where she says she was scared for her life, yet stayed.
When asked about why some may stay in abusive relationships, Applegate told Roberts, “You're told a lie. And at some point, you just, you're either so scared or you just believe it, that you're not worthy enough for any other kind of love.”
Applegate added that she felt strongly about sharing that part of her story, saying, "I know how many women get themselves into an abusive relationship and ... society says, like, ‘Well, I'm a strong woman. I would have gotten my a-- out.’ You know what, no.”
She also touched on her struggle with body weight issues, which she said coincided with her growing career.
“It was awful. It was like the standard that I placed upon myself,” Applegate said, lamenting that she “didn’t eat” for 20 years.
Applegate rose to fame in the late 1980's and 1990's with her role as Kelly Bundy in "Married...with Children."
Her career went on to span film and television, including roles on "Friends," "Samantha Who?" and, more recently, "Dead to Me" from 2019 to 2022. Applegate has been nominated for eight Emmys and won one in 2003 for her role in "Friends."
"As my fame grew, my self‑esteem shrank," Applegate writes in her memoir. "I wished someone would notice, but when you’re a celebrity, your life looks like a cakewalk. My sad eyes were crying, but no one could see."
In her wide-ranging interview, Applegate discussed with Roberts the notion of "self-love," calling it "elusive."
"There's such a false narrative that's happening that, just this, this idea to be perfect. And what is perfect?" Applegate said.
