Christina Applegate
Appearances
Conan O’Brien Needs A Friend
Christina Applegate and Jamie-Lynn Sigler
Well, I think one of the things that I've come across, you know, I mean, and I don't really leave the house anymore. And I mean, if people saw what my life was like on the daily, they wouldn't be able to do it because I can sometimes not do it. It's really, really hard. But I think that the first thing that I hear from people is how did you get it? Yeah. Meaning I must have done something wrong.
Conan O’Brien Needs A Friend
Christina Applegate and Jamie-Lynn Sigler
Yeah. in my life to have this disease. I did it to myself. It's like I had breast cancer as well. So, oh, you must have done something, you know? And that stigma is, you know, I'm used to it now, but it was for a while, like it was so hard to swallow because... Why the F would you think that I would do something to have this? Yes. Because this is the worst thing I've ever had in my life.
Conan O’Brien Needs A Friend
Christina Applegate and Jamie-Lynn Sigler
It's the worst thing I've ever gone through. So do you know, you know, you know, I'm the crybaby of the two of us.
Conan O’Brien Needs A Friend
Christina Applegate and Jamie-Lynn Sigler
I'm just having a pissy day today. I'm having a bad MSC day.
Conan O’Brien Needs A Friend
Christina Applegate and Jamie-Lynn Sigler
You'd be you'd be surprised at the the cures that I get told about. Like, I have this holy water and I know it will cure your MS. I'm like, really? That's amazing. Because there's millions of us across the globe who still have it. Right. Right. I've probably, you know, done this with the holy. I mean, come on. Yeah. Come on.
Conan O’Brien Needs A Friend
Christina Applegate and Jamie-Lynn Sigler
It was January 2021. My mom had just been diagnosed with cancer for the third time. And there was some other stuff going on in my life. And it was a really stressful, traumatic time. And my toes started to feel numb. Just my toes. You know, like a little bit. I was still hiking. I was still playing tennis. I was still doing all the things I could do. But my toes weren't feeling right.
Conan O’Brien Needs A Friend
Christina Applegate and Jamie-Lynn Sigler
And eventually, over those months, it grew from my toes to my ankles to from my knees down is... a whole other ballgame. And I was losing balance, but the pain was extraordinary. And when I say numb, it's numb, but it hurts. So it was like these very subtle things that happened, and finally someone was like... Well, it was actually Selma Blair said, can you please go to the neurologist?
Conan O’Brien Needs A Friend
Christina Applegate and Jamie-Lynn Sigler
And I was like, no, there's no way that the both of us from the same movie have MS. I was like, you crazy. And it was like, that was the end of it for, you know, and by then I had gotten so bad and I was in the middle of shooting dead to me. So we had to really stop for a minute and figure out how to do this properly.
Conan O’Brien Needs A Friend
Christina Applegate and Jamie-Lynn Sigler
But what's interesting is I look back over time, and probably for like six years, I was having weird things happening. Like fluorescent lights would bother me and make me dizzy. And being up on a platform, I would get afraid of the height. I was never afraid of heights. I'd be playing tennis and like my right leg would buckle and I'd be like, ooh, I must be dehydrated or it's too hot out here.
Conan O’Brien Needs A Friend
Christina Applegate and Jamie-Lynn Sigler
I mean, they were like the tiniest little things that you would completely ignore otherwise because there's probably an answer for all of them. But the numbness in my toes and as it started to grow up was very much announced in my fingers. And it just, it starts to, you know, over time it gets worse, you know, but it's... That's how it happened.
Conan O’Brien Needs A Friend
Christina Applegate and Jamie-Lynn Sigler
Well, yeah. I mean, to go to the bathroom, it's like walking on needles and hot lava. So I haven't really been able to get out of my bed today. So I'm having just a bad symptomatic day. And that can be from anything. And I always get scared that this is now my new normal. And I get afraid that this is the new normal. And then I'll have a day where... I'm never good. I'm just less shitty.
Conan O’Brien Needs A Friend
Christina Applegate and Jamie-Lynn Sigler
So those less shitty days, I'm like, okay, so that was just a symptomatic day. It was like either I didn't sleep enough or I didn't eat enough or I'm stressed out. A lot of times stress or, you know, anything like that really affects it, can make it much worse. But there isn't a day where I'm like skipping down, you know, skipped Maloo down the street. Although I try sometimes, right?
Conan O’Brien Needs A Friend
Christina Applegate and Jamie-Lynn Sigler
Jamie, I'll send you videos. I'm like, I'm trying to skip Maloo. I'm skipping today. Yeah, exactly. And then like the next, then 10 minutes later, I'm like, I can't move a thing. I can't move.
Conan O’Brien Needs A Friend
Christina Applegate and Jamie-Lynn Sigler
This is bullshit. Damn, I'm a good actress if I'm making this one up. Applegate is so full of shit. Always was. I would much probably get an Oscar for having Tourette's than I would for... And I'm not making fun of Tourette's because I love Balin out loud. I don't know if you guys have seen it, but she's real beautiful and I want to be her best friend. But yeah, for the cussing.
Conan O’Brien Needs A Friend
Christina Applegate and Jamie-Lynn Sigler
Yes. I don't know how Liz Feldman knew that I existed on the planet. Like, she wrote it. It was already there. And then she was like, oh, my God, this is you. And I'm like, sadly, yes, yes. Sadly.
Conan O’Brien Needs A Friend
Christina Applegate and Jamie-Lynn Sigler
The best the best acting job I've ever done is being Christina Applegate out in the public. That is my greatest. That's your Oscar. Funny. Yeah. Everything's good. Yeah. And then I'm home and I'm like, fuck that shit.
Conan O’Brien Needs A Friend
Christina Applegate and Jamie-Lynn Sigler
Especially when you are the best at teaching me to advocate for myself and to have boundaries on set and to say, hey, this is what I need. You gave me that power. And for you to have to go every day and take that inside. Pretend this isn't even happening. No, I can't even. And feel like you can't talk about it. It makes me want to, mm, sad. Yeah.
Conan O’Brien Needs A Friend
Christina Applegate and Jamie-Lynn Sigler
Damn it. I was going to say I feel really stupid being Conan O'Brien's friend. I won't. I will change mine for the nicer part of me. No. Hi, I'm Christine Applegate, and I feel awesome to be Conan O'Brien's friend.
Conan O’Brien Needs A Friend
Christina Applegate and Jamie-Lynn Sigler
Yeah, I was going to say, well, we never really have a plan. I mean, obviously, when we have a guest, most of the time, there's someone that we know quite well. So that's easy to just talk with them. We don't have a list of questions, really. I mean, if we start to go off the rails, our producer will text, like, She starts texting and going like, bring it back to something, to like a subject.
Conan O’Brien Needs A Friend
Christina Applegate and Jamie-Lynn Sigler
But I was going to say that with the podcast, it wasn't like Jamie and I were like, how can we go around talking about this? I mean, I was actually getting my infusion for my MS and Jenna Fisher from The Office, who's a good friend of mine, she came to hang with me for the six hours that it takes. And she knows my humor and the way I talk. She's like, you've got to do a podcast, man.
Conan O’Brien Needs A Friend
Christina Applegate and Jamie-Lynn Sigler
And then it was like after that, Jamie and I started talking. I was like, oh, my God, this is like our lives. And I feel so much better every time I'm talking. Sorry about that. That's my phone telling me to put my feet in the hot bath with Epsom salts.
Conan O’Brien Needs A Friend
Christina Applegate and Jamie-Lynn Sigler
It does. It knows that I'm in pain and I need to do it. I have an alarm. I have an alarm for 1.30.
Conan O’Brien Needs A Friend
Christina Applegate and Jamie-Lynn Sigler
It really came from our conversations. We always wanted to be honest and raw and real and not have a plan because sometimes the best plan is to have no plan. And then other times I'm just, I'm told to be quiet and to stop talking so much by our producer.
Conan O’Brien Needs A Friend
Christina Applegate and Jamie-Lynn Sigler
Yeah. I mean, we've covered so many topics, too. I mean, it's not like if we just sat there and talked about MS all day, we'd be like, or probably not. I'd just be crying the whole time. We've had episodes about eating disorders and bitches, you know? Well, wait a minute.
Conan O’Brien Needs A Friend
Christina Applegate and Jamie-Lynn Sigler
She knows that I get pissed off when I lay back when we're recording and I look like this. My fire, my anger inside of myself talking about bitches. Just people who are just bitches.
Conan O’Brien Needs A Friend
Christina Applegate and Jamie-Lynn Sigler
You're my biggest bitch ever. I knew I'd make it. You are my favorite bitch. I made it to the top. I haven't even told Jamie because Jamie and I are probably going to record next week because, you know, whatever. And I have so much to tell you about some bitches.
Conan O’Brien Needs A Friend
Christina Applegate and Jamie-Lynn Sigler
Mama got vicious in the text messages.
Conan O’Brien Needs A Friend
Christina Applegate and Jamie-Lynn Sigler
I pooped myself yesterday, so that goes on brand with what we're talking about. Me too. I'm just saying.
Conan O’Brien Needs A Friend
Christina Applegate and Jamie-Lynn Sigler
Me too. Thank you. I've been, this, my favorite moments, honestly, Conan, when I would come on there for like the 30th time or whatever, was when we'd go to commercial and you and I would just talk. Yeah. It was like, it was like the best thing ever. The show was over, you know, the like pre-interview, we did our bits, I did my stories, and you and I would just sit and talk.
Conan O’Brien Needs A Friend
Christina Applegate and Jamie-Lynn Sigler
During that two and two, Chuck Woolery. Yeah.
Conan O’Brien Needs A Friend
Christina Applegate and Jamie-Lynn Sigler
Of course, yes. Well, I did. That's why I got that cleaning closet. But I was going to say...
Conan O’Brien Needs A Friend
Christina Applegate and Jamie-Lynn Sigler
what was so awesome is that you you listened yeah yeah we sometimes wouldn't even get to the questions man yeah because you you were like one of the only ones who listened who didn't have like a vacant look on their face waiting for the next like get to the part that you're supposed to say and let's get to the next question you would listen and so you and i would just it did feel like real and loose and it wasn't a show it i
Conan O’Brien Needs A Friend
Christina Applegate and Jamie-Lynn Sigler
That's more than I've even made doing the podcast.
Conan O’Brien Needs A Friend
Christina Applegate and Jamie-Lynn Sigler
That's so bad. You guys, it's so bad. It's almost like this particular thing that happened this week is like, I don't even know if I can even talk about it.
Conan O’Brien Needs A Friend
Christina Applegate and Jamie-Lynn Sigler
Okay, you can talk about your bitches.
Conan O’Brien Needs A Friend
Christina Applegate and Jamie-Lynn Sigler
You know what you can send me? Because I ask all my very, very, very wealthy friends. Yep. Six million dollars. Just like not alone. Jesus, I made that today. I mean, OK, just six million. I know it sounds weird. No, I just asked him every time I talked to him.
Conan O’Brien Needs A Friend
Christina Applegate and Jamie-Lynn Sigler
No, because Tom Hanks came around and did coo coo. Oh, yeah. And then that became your thing. I was trying to make cone bone happen.
Conan O’Brien Needs A Friend
Christina Applegate and Jamie-Lynn Sigler
It was like my favorite thing. Anytime I got a call saying, hey, you know, even like you sometimes would have like a guest like fall out or something. They'd be like, will you come in? I'm like, absolutely. I would love nothing more. I really like you were my favorite interviewer ever. I had so much fun there.
Conan O’Brien Needs A Friend
Christina Applegate and Jamie-Lynn Sigler
When we're talking to you, when we're talking to Jimmy Kimmel, that's a whole other conversation.
Conan O’Brien Needs A Friend
Christina Applegate and Jamie-Lynn Sigler
Well, absolutely, 100%. I mean, that's how this all came about was when I came out with my diagnosis in 2021. Our friend Lance said, you got to talk to Jamie because I'm sure you feel like you're on an island and you don't understand what's happening. And that's the person to talk to. And I had met Jamie a few times over the years.
Conan O’Brien Needs A Friend
Christina Applegate and Jamie-Lynn Sigler
And it was like we got on the phone and we were on the phone for hours. And I felt like so less alone.
Conan O’Brien Needs A Friend
Christina Applegate and Jamie-Lynn Sigler
Sorry, I get teary when I talk about my dreams, but it healed me in that moment, and that's how this happened.
Conan O’Brien Needs A Friend
Christina Applegate and Jamie-Lynn Sigler
It was like, we're talking about so much information and so much stuff that so many people newly diagnosed or even people who have been diagnosed for years might not know about or want to say the things that we say, like the brutal honesty about how painful it can be, how lonely it can feel, how awful it is. And then, you know, that's only coming from my mouth because I'm negative Nellie.
Conan O’Brien Needs A Friend
Christina Applegate and Jamie-Lynn Sigler
And then Jamie will be like, but let's breathe, you know, and I love you, Jamie. She gets pissed off about it, too.
Conan O’Brien Needs A Friend
Christina Applegate and Jamie-Lynn Sigler
No, no, no. That's I was totally kidding. You know, it's like we we have helped each other in the sense that I I get to see some a different side to all of this because of her. Yep. And she gets to be honest about how she feels sometimes about in ways that you didn't. Right. I don't want to speak for you. Yeah.