Selma Blair is reflecting on her acting career after she “stepped away” when she was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis.
In a recent interview with Glamour for the magazine’s 2023 Women of the Year issue, the actress opened up about what she feels like she missed out on.
“I still feel like I never really hit my stride with acting because after Hellboy I was so sick that I really stepped away,” Blair said. “And because I wasn’t a huge star, no one came looking.” The actress starred in the 2004 superhero movie as well as its sequel, Hellboy II: The Golden Army, in 2008.
It wasn’t until 2018 that the Cruel Intentions actress publicly revealed her MS diagnosis, and has been in remission since 2021. However, she previously shared that she went undiagnosed for 40 years.
Since learning that she has the autoimmune disease, she has put her focus on other ambitions, including embracing disability activism as well as working with disability inclusion specialist Andraéa Lavant, who consults with brands and film sets. But Blair still ponders about her once-acting career and if it’s something she could ever get back to.
“I had to realize I do love acting,” she said. “I really would love an amazing director to ever think there’s something for me.”
Blair “do(es) wonder, practically” how she would go about taking on a role if presented with the opportunity. She explained to the outlet that she has less dysphonia when she already knows what she wants to say, so she believes that she can memorize lines.
“I think that’s the key with everything,” she added. “Really get comfortable with yourself and it doesn’t matter if you falter, because you know where to pick yourself up again. .. I have such a fucking determination.”
Earlier in the interview, Blair also recalled the “pure exhaustion” she felt following the birth of her now-12-year-old son, Arthur. Now, she knows it was MS flares that she was experiencing for years before her diagnosis.
Prior to knowing what was causing her symptoms, she told the magazine that she remembered feeling “broken down.” She said, “I was totally out of the workforce, and I couldn’t earn money,” because experts had told her she needed to take it easy.
She eventually told her manager that she needed to get a job, so she ended up taking on some sporadic work, including commercial projects as well as a role on Anger Management. But even her physical pain made those jobs difficult.
“I was forcing myself on a plane, and I was getting vertigo. I would wake up, and I couldn’t move,” Blair said. “It was a very hard time in my life, but it was the catalyst to become who I am now.”
