Eric Dane has been candid about his health over the years, including his recent ALS diagnosis.
The Grey’s Anatomy and Charmed alum announced the news of his diagnosis on Thursday, April 10, in a statement to People. “I have been diagnosed with ALS. I am grateful to have my loving family by my side as we navigate this next chapter,” Dane, 52, said.
The Euphoria star, who shares daughters Billie, 15, and Georgia, 13, with wife Rebecca Gayheart, has in the past also opened up about seeking treatment for prescription drug addiction and depression.
Scroll down to read what Dane has said in the past about his health:
ALS
Dane shared news of his ALS diagnosis on Thursday, April 10, noting that he is fortunate to continue working, including filming Euphoria season 3 next week.
“I feel fortunate that I am able to continue working and am looking forward to returning to set of Euphoria next week,” he said in a statement to People. “I kindly ask that you give my family and I privacy during this time.”
Sobriety
In July 2011, while starring on Grey’s, Dane’s representative told E! News that he had recently “voluntarily checked himself into a treatment facility to help him get off of pain medication that he was prescribed for a sports injury that he suffered over the recent hiatus.”
Dane reflected on his sobriety journey in a June 2024 interview on the “Armchair Expert” podcast, admitting, “If you take the whole eight years I was on Grey’s Anatomy, I was f***** up longer than I was sober and that was when things started going sideways for me.”
Dane said that he was sober for three or four years before joining Grey’s in 2006, but eventually fell off the wagon as he struggled with the sudden fame that came with his famous role as McSteamy, as well as body image issues.
“It was overwhelming, and I think I just wanted to pretend that it wasn’t and that I was comfortable with it. Act like you’ve been there but you haven’t been there,” he said, per the Daily Mail.
In the same interview, Dane revealed, “I didn’t leave so much as I think I was let go,” referring to his 2012 exit from Grey’s Anatomy at the beginning of season 9. “I was struggling. They didn’t let me go because of that, although it definitely didn’t help,” he admitted.
Depression
In April 2017, Dane’s representative confirmed that production on his TNT drama, The Last Ship, had halted while the actor dealt with depression.
“Eric asked for a break to deal with personal issues. He suffers from depression and has asked for a few weeks of downtime and the producers kindly granted that request. He looks forward to returning,” his rep told Variety at the time.
In July that same year, Dane opened up about his mental health struggles in an interview on the Today show.
“I took some time off — I was dealing with some depression, which was kind of odd to me,” he said, per People. “I felt very conflicted about it because I didn’t really feel like I had anything to be depressed about.”
WATCH: “I felt very conflicted because I couldn’t figure out what I was depressed about.” @RealEricDane opens up about depression pic.twitter.com/XvVcSVuZlc
— TODAY (@TODAYshow) July 31, 2017
“That was a scary thing, when you wake up and you’re like: ‘I don’t want to get out of bed,’” he explained. “I was seeing these doctors thinking that there was something physically wrong with me, because I’d never felt like that.”
“I mean, I’d dealt with depression throughout my life, but it was always manageable,” Dane added. “I just felt like, you know, everybody kind of feels a little blue. But this just hit me like a truck. I had to take some time off — I went away, I took care of it, and I’m feeling great.”
Dane advised fans to “listen to your body,” adding, “It’s a very serious thing. Like I said, I felt very conflicted because I couldn’t figure out what I was depressed about. But it’s very real.”
