Eric Dane got a ’10-minute standing ovation’ on ‘Brilliant Minds’ set. See exclusive clip
Eric Dane, who played Dr. Mark Sloan, aka “McSteamy,” on “Grey’s Anatomy” for six seasons, is returning to TV on another medical drama. The actor, 53, makes his “Brilliant Minds” debut as “Bronx-Gen’s favorite silver fox.” You can think neurologist Dr. Oliver Wolf (show lead Zachary Quinto) for the new moniker.
After revealing in April that he’d been diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), Dane will play a firefighter who also has the disease on the Nov. 24 episode of NBC’s series (10 ET/PT), now in its second season. ALS “causes progressive degeneration of nerve cells in the spinal cord and brain,” according to Johns Hopkins. There currently is no cure.
When Dane’s team inquired about appearing on the show, “Brilliant Minds” creator Michael Grassi says he leapt at the opportunity. At the time, Grassi was dealing with “a health emergency” in his own family, and he and Dane quickly started circling “this idea of ‘How does a family navigate a difficult diagnosis?’” he tells USA TODAY. “And there’s no rule book. 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?”
In the episode, which filmed in October, Dane plays Matthew, a proud firefighter who’s used to being the hero, not the person in need of help. Matthew hasn’t been able to share his ALS diagnosis with his ex-wife or daughter, because he fears being an imposition to his family (and his colleagues at the firehouse, where he’s living).
“Well, we don’t have to make a decision right now,” Dr. Wolf says. “But…things are moving faster than we’d hoped, and we need to make a plan before we get into trouble.”
