Selma Blair isn’t holding back. In a candid interview with Us Weekly, the 52-year-old actress opened up about her life before and after her 2018 multiple sclerosis diagnosis, her sobriety journey, the aggressive stem cell transplant treatment she underwent in 2019, and her recovery. She delved into lighter topics, too, like her style philosophy and future career goals, even revealing a TV show she dreams of starring in. The Legally Blonde alum also addressed a topic that blurs the line between light and heavy: why she doesn’t get Botox injections in her face.
“I’ve had 100 Botox injections in my back to strengthen muscles, and that’s made me not bother with getting Botox in my face,” she told the outlet. “When you have to deal with so much for your health you forget about what you look like.” [Editor’s note: Botulinum toxin can be injected into muscles to help with spasticity and spasms in MS patients.]
Despite this, when the interviewer asked her “secret” to looking incredible, she had some insightful thoughts. “My horoscope last year said I would turn beautiful this year,” she said. “I’m really shocked and pleased. There is such a thing as the gravity of grief. I realize what I have to do to take care of myself more now. I also accept all the things that come with the physical parts of me that have changed, and that was a huge beauty boost.”
Below, find more insights from her interview:
Finding clarity after her diagnosis
“Once I knew I had MS—which I’d had for a while—[things] made so much more sense. And I actually became much happier. I’d had these jerks and spasms for many years, and I’d try to suppress them or keep moving or drink excessive amounts of alcohol to stop big things that I thought were mental.
I honestly thought I was making it up before I was diagnosed. I just thought, ‘Jesus, Selma, you’re very broken inside. Admit it.’ I didn’t know I wasn’t broken and that I had brain tissue damage.”
And finding joy, too
“I was a sad person. I wanted joy and good things but I was living a lie because I didn’t know I was sick. I convinced myself I was just that dramatic, weird girl who needed alcohol to not stutter. I could’ve been kinder to myself.
It did. I realized it’s not about me. It’s about how I deal with people in the world. My stutter or dystonia or lack of ability to function in the sun—if that happens to me, it happens to others.”
Life since her stem cell transplant
“I imagined that I would do the stem cell [treatment] and come out looking like Christie Brinkley and feeling amazing. I put every egg in that basket. I did not allow for how long recovery really took. I’ve had to fake it till I make it. I aged so much after the chemo and then menopause. That’s something no one talks about. But I’m getting back on track.”
Living with a disability
There are so many different things that go into chronic illness or chronic treatment and things that change when medicine is wearing off. Or why I need my dog to tell me to take my medicine. I’m willing to be more open than the average bear. I don’t think people with private lives with disabilities should need to open up to every curious mind. I’ll take the hit for people.”
Future career goals…
“I would die to get on The White Lotus and work with Mike White and have that rebirth like Jennifer Coolidge. I’d [also] love to do a period piece—a Downton Abbey type of thing or a Joan of Arc Mad Max. I’m open for business.”
