Eric Dane has been lauded by his peers and critics for making a television comeback just months after receiving an amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) diagnosis.
The actor, famed for portraying Mark ‘McSteamy’ Sloane in Grey’s Anatomy, received his ALS diagnosis in April 2025. This news led many fans to worry that he might leave acting due to the significant health challenges he now faces.
Nonetheless, these concerns were alleviated when Eric reappeared on screen in the latest episode of Brilliant Minds. In this episode, the 53-year-old took on the role of a firefighter and 9/11 hero, who is also managing his own ALS progression.
In a particularly “emotional” scene, Dane’s character, Matthew, delivers a message reflecting on the importance of knowing when to ask for help. This powerful moment moved everyone on set to a standing ovation.
“I have never seen this happen in my entire career, but he essentially got a 10-minute standing ovation after shooting that scene,” recounted Michael Grassi, creator of Brilliant Minds, to USA Today. “Because it was so beautiful and so honest and so real.”
Grassi further commented, “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.”
Dane’s powerful storyline, highlighting how ALS affects both the individual and their loved ones, was conceived after his team reached out to the show in September.
In an interview with Deadline, Grassi elaborated on the premise: “this very simple idea of what is it like for a family to navigate a difficult diagnosis.”
“There’s no rule book. There’s no guide. There’s no right way. There’s no wrong way, and it’s really hard.
“So we just wanted to show, especially for our Thanksgiving episode, what is it like for a family to have to work through this together?”
Grassi was particularly interested in portraying ALS as a condition that necessitates ongoing adaptation to continual changes. He explained, “I think something like ALS, once you adapt, something changes again, and you’re adapting again and then adapting again and adapting again. That is not easy by any means, because you’re always doing something new. So those are all things that we talked about early on that we were interested in exploring in this episode.”
The collaboration with Dane on this storyline ensured a genuine representation of the challenges faced by the 5,000 Americans diagnosed with ALS each year.
“… We wanted to meet him and his story in terms of where he [was] that day…when you’re dealing with a progressive illness, sometimes stuff changes every day,” said Grassi. “So we just really wanted to be open and collaborative and keep the conversation going every day.”
“The best part of the process was working with Eric and making sure that he felt great, and we felt great. He was just so generous on set, and it was a really good time getting to work with him.”
Filmed in October, Dane’s episode is a significant milestone in his career, being the first role he took on after publicly revealing his ALS diagnosis earlier this year.
Following his diagnosis, Dane expressed his desire to continue working as long as possible, while also requesting privacy as he and his family, including his daughters Billie and Georgia and ex-wife Rebecca Gayheart, adjust to his condition.
Beyond acting, Dane has become an advocate for the Push for Progress campaign, which seeks to assist I AM ALS in raising $1 billion for research over the next three years in the fight against the disease.
At a campaign event, Dane shared his personal motivation: “I have two daughters at home. I want to see them, you know, graduate college, and get married and maybe have grandkids. You know, I want to be there for all that. So I’m going to fight to the last breath with this one.”