Christina Applegate is hinting that retirement may be in her near future.
The Dead to Me star, who was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 2021, revealed to the Los Angeles Times that the SAG Awards was likely her last as an actor.
During the gala on February 27, the actress appeared on the red carpet with her 12-year-old daughter Sadie Grace. She used a cane, now part of her new normal, with the letters ”FU MS.”
Christina Applegate and Sadie Grace LeNoble at the 29th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards held at the Fairmont Century Plaza on February 26, 2023 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Gilbert Flores/Variety via Getty Images)
The beloved actress was nominated for outstanding performance by a female actor in a comedy series for her role as Jen Harding in Netflix’s Dead to Me.
The nomination marked her sixth overall.
But sadly, we will probably not see much of the 51-year-old in the future.
“It’s my last awards show as an actor probably, so it’s kind of a big deal,” Applegate said before the awards show.
Applegate explained, “Right now, I couldn’t imagine getting up at 5 a.m. and spending 12 to 14 hours on a set; I don’t have that in me at this moment.”
In 2021, the Married with Children alum was filming the third and final season of Dead to Me when she was diagnosed with MS.
She was forced to take a break to seek treatment, but she was also determined to finish the show. However, it took months before she could watch herself in Married with Children after it was released.
”I don’t like seeing myself struggling,” she explained.
”Also, I gained 40 lbs. because of inactivity and medications, and I didn’t look like myself, and I didn’t feel like myself.”
When she returned to filming, she realized things were very different.
“I was a wreck every day, but most of that wreck would take place in my trailer by myself. But there were times I’d break down on set and be like, ‘I can’t, we have to take a break, I need a half-hour,’ and everyone was so loving that it was OK.”
In November, Applegate was asked about life after Dead to Me.
“It’s about finding what I’m capable of doing,” she told Variety.
Gone are the days where she could work long hours for days on end. Now Applegate must figure out how to navigate life with a chronic illness.
“I’m just a newbie to all of this. So I’m trying to figure it out — and I’m also in mourning for the person that I was. I have to find a place that’s as loving as my set was, where they won’t think I’m a diva by saying, ‘Hey, I can only work five hours.’”
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Should Applegate want to act again she explained she would need to find “a place that will allow me to [work five hours] if I’m not the star.”
But even with all the progress she has made with her health, she’s still not sure if acting is in her future.
Just a fun fact, the suit my kid is wearing was Scott Weiland’s suit from one of his solo album covers. Scott gave my husband, Martyn, that suit long ago in the glorious 90’s Also we were quite a pair last night. She fractured her ankle this week, hence the boot, and me…MS pic.twitter.com/5rqv7d4chb
— christina applegate (@1capplegate) January 17, 2023
“I’m pretty convinced that this was it, you know? But who knows — I’m probably gonna get real bored of being in my room. I’d like to develop stuff, I’d like to produce stuff. I’ve got a lot of ideas in my mind, and I just need to get them executed.”
If producing or development doesn’t work out, she’s interested in “doing a s— ton of voice-overs to make some cash to make sure that my daughter’s fed and we’re homed.”
No matter what Christina Applegate chooses to do with her future, I hope she realizes the incredible work she has given fans over the past several decades.
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