Christina Applegate Will Touch on ‘Painful Moments’ of MS in Memoir

Christina Applegate is ready to open up about her career and battle with multiple sclerosis (MS) in her upcoming memoir.

Hachette Book Group announced on Thursday, July 17, that Applegate, 53, will be releasing her debut book titled You With the Sad Eyes next year.

“I truly believe that books can make people feel less alone. That’s why I’m doing this,” Applegate said of her inspiration to write the memoir. “You With the Sad Eyes won’t be some big violin scratching for my life. But it will be real. It will be filled with the ups and downs, the humor and grief of life. So here I am. Real me. Lots to say.”

According to the synopsis, Applegate will “unveil the full story of her years in the public eye, and the painful moments the public didn’t see.” The actress will reflect on the early days of her career, her battle with MS and returning to work amid her health struggles.

You With the Sad Eyes will be published by Little, Brown and Company and is scheduled to be released on March 3, 2026.

Applegate announced that she was diagnosed with MS in 2021. MS causes breakdown of the protective covering of nerves, per the Mayo Clinic. The disease can cause numbness, weakness, trouble walking, vision changes and other symptoms. There is no cure.

“It’s been a strange journey. But I have been so supported by people that I know who also have this condition,” she wrote via X at the time. “It’s been a tough road. But as we all know, the road keeps going. Unless some a**hole blocks it. As one of my friends that has MS said, ‘We wake up and take the indicated action’. And that’s what I do. So now I ask for privacy. As I go through this thing. Thank you xo.”

Since going public with her condition, Applegate has been candid about her struggles and how it’s affected her everyday life.

“I didn’t know what was happening to me. That January, my toes got numb, and I ignored it. The balls of my foot got numb, and I ignored it. All of a sudden, I’d be, like, falling over,” she said in a September 2022 interview with Variety. “People were like, ‘Oh, it’s just neuropathy.’ At this point, they had to take me with a wheelchair to set because I couldn’t walk if the set was far. I was sleeping all the time, and I gained 40 pounds — a lot of things happened.”

As Applegate has struggled with MS, she believed that her starring role in Dead to Me would be her last.

“I’m probably not going to work on-camera again,” Applegate said in a May 2023 interview with Vanity Fair before expressing her joy to work alongside Linda Cardellini. “I’m so glad that I went out with someone who is by far the greatest actress I’ve ever worked with in my entire life, if not the greatest human I’ve ever known.”

The following year, Applegate made a triumphant return to the Emmys, where she received a standing ovation before presenting the award for Best Supporting Actress.