Jamie-Lynn Sigler, who’s been living with Multiple Sclerosis for two decades, has commended Eric Dane for playing a firefighter with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis on TV, months after revealing he was diagnosed with the disease in real life.
In November, Dane — who announced in April 2025 that he was diagnosed with ALS and has since spoken publicly about his symptoms — made a cameo on Brilliant Minds, where his character, Matthew Ramati, struggled to share his ALS diagnosis with his family.
Now, Sigler — who was diagnosed with MS in 2002 — is set to appear on an episode of Dane’s former show, the long-running medical series Grey’s Anatomy, playing urologist Dr. Laura Kaplan, who has MS.
Speaking to The Independent ahead of the episode’s Thursday air date, Sigler spoke about how it felt to see Dane play a character with a chronic disease that affects him personally.
“I think to be able to be in this moment of his life and still get to act, still get to tell his story, and still do what he loves, despite what’s happening to his body — I was thrilled for him and others that are like him to have that representation,” she said. “That’s a gift.”
“That’s a gift to give to him for so many reasons and to other people as well,” she concluded.
Dane’s episode of Brilliant Minds shone a light on some of the symptoms of the neurodegenerative disease, with his character losing the use of his hands and struggling to breathe hard into a tube. The episode ended with a heartwarming moment as Matthew was surprised by a firetruck filled with his colleagues and people whose lives he saved over the years.
Shortly after he announced his diagnosis, Dane spoke about wanting to continue acting.
“At the end of the day, all I want to do is spend time with my family and work a little bit if I can,” Dane told Diane Sawyer on Good Morning America in June. “I don’t think this is the end of my story. I just don’t feel like, in my heart, I don’t feel like this is the end of me.”
Sigler’s upcoming appearance on Grey’s Anatomy certainly has parallels to Dane’s, as life imitates art.
As Dr. Laura Kaplan navigates her MS diagnosis, she also assists fan-favorite character Dr. Richard Webber (portrayed by James Pickens Jr.) after it’s been revealed that he has prostate cancer.
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Sigler expressed what a great honor it was for her to play Dr. Kaplan, after she once feared that publicly revealing her MS diagnosis would ruin her career.
Explaining to The Independent how her character’s experiences resonated with her own, she said: “I think her honoring and talking about the devastation that came with receiving such a diagnosis, and her feeling like her life and career could be over because of it. And then, allowing herself to sort of sit in those feelings and those emotions. And then just saying, ‘OK this is the body that I’m in. How do I keep moving forward and how do I still do what I love?’
“I think that’s the real message of Dr. Kaplan and the real message of me.”
Grey’s Anatomy airs Thursdays at 10 p.m. ET on ABC with streaming available the next day on Hulu.