Eric Dane Says He Has No Reason for ‘Good Spirit’ Amid ALS Battle, But Wants to Raise Awareness

Eric Dane is opening up about his ALS battle, just days after guest starring on “Brilliant Minds.”

ALS, or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, is commonly referred to as Lou Gehrig's disease. It is an incurable, degenerative disease that progressively paralyzes a patient's muscles.

Dane participated in a virtual panel for Giving Tuesday with I AM ALS and Synapticure co-founders Brian Wallach and Sandra Abrevaya, as well as “Brilliant Minds” show runner Michael Grassi and writer and consulting producer Dr. Daniela Lamas, M.D.

On “Brilliant Minds,” Dane played a firefighter with ALS, who struggles to tell his loved ones about his diagnosis.

During the panel, Eric said the role was "so real” and “cathartic” for him.

According to Us Weekly, he explained, “I am fairly limited in what I can do physically as an actor, but I still have my brain and I still have my speech. So, I am willing to do just about anything. I’ll take on a role. But I think from here on out, it’s going to have to be ALS-centric.”

The actor 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, and I’m fine with that. I’m grateful that I can still work in any capacity.”

People magazine adds that Dane opened up about keeping his spirits up despite facing such a “horrible” disease.

"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, crawled under the sheets, and spent the next two weeks crying," he said. "And 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.”

He was encouraged to know that he could have a “buoyant spirit in the face of something so horrible.”

Eric also insisted "it's imperative that I share my journey with as many people as I can because I don't feel like my life is about me anymore.”

He later added, "You know, obviously, I have a family at home, and they’re the priority. But this is such a big deal to me."

The “Grey’s Anatomy” alum went on, "I make sure that people are aware of what ALS is and what it's about, and more importantly, what we can do to combat it and improve the landscape, because it's so rocky and littered with hurdles and bureaucracy and all this other nonsense that we're trying to sift through so we can get to a place where we go, start working on solution.”

“Extra” recently spoke with "Brilliant Minds" star Zachary about working with Eric.

He told us, “Obviously, the circumstances around his situation are really tragic. We wanted to create a space where he felt supported, he felt safe, but he also felt empowered.”

Quinto went on, "The way that he is sharing this journey with people, both personally and creatively, I think is incredibly inspiring and will make a difference in a lot of people's lives.”