Art imitated life during Eric Dane’s guest appearance on “Brilliant Minds.”
The 53-year-old actor, who is battling amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), played a firefighter with the same disease during Monday’s episode of the NBC medical drama.
The show’s creator, Michael Grassi, told USA Today that Dane filming the scene where his character, Matthew Rimati, comes to term with how to share his diagnosis with his family was “so emotional.”
“I have never seen this happen in my entire career, but he essentially got a 10-minute standing ovation after shooting that scene,” Grassi revealed.
“Because it was so beautiful and so honest and so real,” he added.
Grassi also acknowledged that it was courageous of Dane to do the show amid his ALS battle.
“While his character’s finding bravery, there’s a lot of bravery in Eric to tell the story as well,” Grassi stated. “To come out and share this part of yourself is vulnerable but also really important, and I think raises awareness and shows people that they’re not alone.”
Dane announced in April that he was diagnosed with ALS.
The “Grey’s Anatomy” alum, who has been left wheelchair bound, is being cared for by his wife, Rebecca Gayheart. The model, 54, called off her divorce from Dane after his diagnosis earlier this year. They share daughters Billie, 15, and Georgia, 13.
Grassi told USA Today that Dane’s team reached out about the appearance. At the time, Grassi was dealing with his own family “health emergency,” which led to him and Dane discussing how families’ navigate health crises.
“There’s no rule book,” said Grassi. “There’s no right way or wrong way to do it. And in our conversations, something that he was dealing with very much in real time, and I was dealing with in my life, and a lot of people deal with every day is: How do you navigate, how do you communicate, and how do you accept help?”
Grassi added that Dane was “a joy” to work with on the episode, which was filmed last month.
“His spirit was so collaborative and so open,” Grassi shared. “What was really fun was every time we would call ‘Cut,’ and we would finish shooting a scene, there was so much laughter and banter between Eric and our cast.”
“Brilliant Minds” stars Zachary Quinto as a neurologist who has prosopagnosia, a condition also known as face blindness. The cast also includes Tamberla Perry, Ashleigh LaThrop, Alex MacNicoll, Spence Moore II and Tedd Sears.
Since revealing his diagnosis, Dane has been open about his battle with the debilitating disease.
“My left side is functioning, my right side has completely stopped working,” he revealed on “Good Morning America” in June. “[My left arm] is going. I feel like maybe in a couple more months, I won’t have my left hand either. It’s sobering.”
In September, Dane had to skip presenting at the 2025 Emmy Awards because he lost his balance shortly before the ceremony and split his head open.
Most recently, Dane vowed to “fight to the last breath” during a meeting with lawmakers in Washington, DC in October.
