Selma Blair has been in the industry since the 1990s. After starring in multiple television series, she co-starred with Sarah Michelle Gellar in 1999’s ‘Cruel Intentions.’ However, she gained fame in the 2001 romantic comedy ‘Legally Blonde.’ But she showcased her range in the ‘Hellboy’ franchise, where she played Liz Sherman.
However, Selma Blair penned a post about multiple sclerosis in 2018. Blair informed her fans about the diagnosis. In the post, she said that she struggled with fatigue and mobility on the left side of her body. Recently, she appeared on the cover of Vogue magazine for their May 2023 issue. For the cover interview, Selma talked about mistaking the initial symptoms as being emotional, her advocacy work, and struggling to get work due to multiple sclerosis.
Related: Why Did Selma Blair Quit ‘Dancing With The Stars’?
What Is Multiple Sclerosis?
Selma Blair’s diagnosis started a much-needed conversation around the disease. Multiple sclerosis affects our central nervous systems. It largely affects your brain, spinal cord, and optic nerve, which help us with mobility. Viruses like Epstein-Barr affect the immune system, triggering an attack on the central nervous system.
It is mostly found in white people and people living in temperate zones like Australia, Europe, the USA, and Canada. The symptoms occur due to distorted communication, which includes numbness, paralysis, fatigue, memory issues, and losing the sense of your face. The disease has four types or stages of development: clinically isolated syndrome, relapsing-remitting MS, secondary progressive MS, and primary progressive MS. As per a 2019 study, one million people are currently living with multiple sclerosis in the United States of America.
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Selma Blair Was Worried That The Disease Will Affect Her Work
During the British Vogue interview, Selma Blair talked about living and working with multiple sclerosis, and how it affected her work life. Blair said, “Sets were excruciating sometimes with the exhaustion and the tics. I took benzos and Klonopin. I didn’t abuse those things, just alcohol. But I was lost and sad and could hardly ever smile. Hence my roles, I imagine.”
Selma continued, “I was worried since the beginning of time that a glaring fault would remove me from the workforce. And usually it was my incoordination or getting stuck, too weak or sick, in my trailer – or any time, really. The vomiting or body issues were terrifying, [and the] baldness or rashes. “
The actress added, “I remember being very, very poorly on Hellboy and was diagnosed with cat scratch fever and possible leukaemia in Prague. I couldn’t admit alcoholism or [access] treatment in my insurance for fear I’d be deemed an insurance risk. I fell apart once I got back to LA.”
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