“Brilliant Minds” cast and crew members applauded Eric Dane, who shared in April that he’d been diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) disease, with a 10-minute standing ovation after his debut performance on the NBC medical drama where he played a firefighter also battling the disease.
Dane guest stars in the series as Matthew who is dealing with his future as an ALS patient. He appeared in Season 2, Episode 9, which aired on Nov. 24, and NBC shared the clip with USA Today, though the ovation is not filmed.
During the scene Dr. Oliver informs him that the disease is progressing much faster than they anticipated and that it’s important for him to update his family with the details sooner than later.
“The test results aren’t changing. This is where we are Matthew. We need to talk about what that means,” Dr. Oliver Wolf (Zachary Quinto) tells Matthew.
By this point, Matthew has come to terms with his condition and what’s to come.
“Nobody survives this, we both know that,” Dane says as Matthew. “And I know how to take care of my family.”
In the USA Today interview, “Brilliant Minds” creator Michael Grassi said he and Dane discussed the concept of how a family handles tough diagnoses during their early conversations about him coming onto the show.
“There’s no rule book,” Dane explained. “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 filming the scene was so “emotional” for everyone involved on set that after it was over, those watching burst into a round of applause.
“I have never seen this happen in my entire career, but he essentially got a 10-minute standing ovation after shooting that scene, because it was so beautiful and so honest and so real,” Grassi explained. “Also, while his character’s finding bravery, there’s a lot of bravery in Eric to tell the story as well. 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.”
