Eric Dane is opening up about his future acting career amid his battle with ALS.

During a panel discussion hosted by the organization I Am ALS in conjunction with the medical drama series Brilliant Minds, Dane revealed that he plans to keep acting as he navigates his amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) diagnosis, per Page Six. The Euphoria actor, 53, explained that he will take on "ALS-centric" roles as he is "fairly limited in what [he] can do physically" but that his mental acuity remains strong.

"I still have my brain, and I still have my speech," he said, adding that he is "willing to do just about anything."

The Grey's Anatomy alum continued, "It's going to be very difficult for me to play any other role where... You know, look at the 800-pound gorilla in the room. I'm fine with that."

Dane recently appeared in an episode of Brilliant Minds, his first acting role since announcing his diagnosis in April, portraying a firefighter struggling to tell his family about his ALS, which he said was "cathartic" despite the difficulty of relating to his character's struggles.

"I've never played a character who's going through something and something I'm dealing with in real time, in real life as well. So it was hard and there were moments where it was very difficult for me to even get the lines out," he said, adding, "But overall, I was really grateful for the experience."

As for his condition, the Countdown actor shared that he is remaining "buoyant ... in the face of something so horrible," E! News reports.

"I have no reason to be in a good spirit at any time, on any given day, I don't think anybody would blame me if I went upstairs in my bedroom and crawled under the sheets and spent the next two weeks crying," he said. "I was a little bit pleasantly surprised when I realized that I wasn't built like that, because I thought for sure that was gonna be me."

In April, Dane revealed he had been diagnosed with ALS, a rare progressive neurodegenerative disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord, gradually leading to loss of muscle control, per the ALS Association. He has since shared a few updates on his health over the past few months, including some of the first signs that made him realize something could be wrong.

Community