Jamie-Lynn Sigler Says Playing a Doctor with MS on 'Grey's Anatomy' Meant She 'Didn't Have to Hide' (Exclusive)
- - Jamie-Lynn Sigler Says Playing a Doctor with MS on 'Grey's Anatomy' Meant She 'Didn't Have to Hide' (Exclusive)
Eileen FinanJanuary 16, 2026 at 10:26 AM
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Michael Loccisano/Getty; Disney/Anne Marie Fox
Jamie-Lynn Sigler
Warning: This post contains spoilers for Grey's Anatomy, season 22, episode 8: Heavy on Me
Jamie-Lynn Sigler, who lives with multiple sclerosis, co-starred in an episode of Grey's Anatomy as a doctor with MS
Sigler, 44, says that the role was created specifically for her — and for the first time, she felt like she didn't need to hide her condition
The actress played opposite James Pickens Jr., whose character, Dr. Webber has prostate cancer, like Pickens himself
Jamie-Lynn Sigler says her first role playing a character living openly with multiple sclerosis felt "divinely orchestrated."
Sigler, who was diagnosed with MS more than two decades ago, guest starred in a Jan. 15 episode of Grey's Anatomy as Dr. Laura Kaplan, a top urologist visiting Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital, who has the neurodegenreative disease.
Disney/Anne Marie Fox
Jamie-Lynn Sigler on 'Grey's Anatomy'
"In the first couple of scenes, we don't know that she has MS. We don't talk about the fact that she has MS," says Sigler, 44. "I think that's very important representation. It's not something that defines who you are. It's not something that has to come up in every conversation."
When she was approached by the show for the role, Sigler says she gave only one note: "I want to show someone in their power. And they really delivered. The character is such a beautiful representation for the MS community."
Dr, Kaplan is brought in by Catherine Avery (Debbie Allen) to give her husband, Dr. Richard Webber, a second opinion on treating his prostate cancer. Actor James Pickens Jr., who portrays Dr. Webber, revealed last year he was diagnosed with the disease in real life.
Jamie-Lynn Sigler/Instagram
Sigler with James Perkins Jr. on the set of Grey's
In one scene together, Sigler's character shares her own diagnosis with Dr. Webber. "It is a personal moment of trying to connect with him and have him understand that she understands what it's like to receive a diagnosis that's scary." When her character tells him "I have MS," Sigler says she was emotional. For years, Sigler hid her own condition, fearful that no one would hire her if they knew.
Being able to play the character on Grey's as her authentic self was freeing: "Finally walking in a scene as I walk and not feeling like I have to hide anything about my physicality has allowed me to do my best work."
Life ended up imitating art on the set.
"In real life, I didn't know about James' diagnosis until our third day of filming," she says. "He happened to turn to me and say, 'I don't know if you know this, but I've been diagnosed with prostate cancer.' We had the moment that Dr. Kaplan and Dr. Webber have in reverse, in real life, as James and Jamie!"
Sigler says she now approaches all her acting work with openness about her MS, a disease that attacks the central nervous system and can cause issues with balance and movement.
"Any job that I'm up for, I talk with a director and say, 'This is how I walk, this is how I move. If it's something that you're not down with, I totally get it, but I'm done hiding or trying to change who I am.'"
She credits that confidence in part to her friend and MeSsy podcast partner, Christina Applegate, who is also living with the disease.
"I thought I was living honestly about this before — until I met Christina," says Sigler, who's a spokesperson for pharmaceutical company Novartis and has helped create a new information guide about the company's MS treatment Kesimpta. "She just pushed me off a cliff of being as raw and vulnerable and unabashedly not shameful about anything that I experienced with MS. I'm forever grateful for that because I think that's allowed me to find more authenticity in every area of my life."
John Russo
Christina Applegate and Jamie-Lynn Sigler in 2024
While Sigler's role was only a guest spot on Grey's, she says she's open to more.
"Her last line is, 'You have my number.' So they have her number if she's needed. The wonderful thing about Grey's is that people come in and out, and her being a doctor, it's possible. We'll see how people like her!"
Grey's Anatomy airs on Thursdays on ABC, and new episodes are available to stream the next day on Hulu.
All 21 of the previous seasons are also available on the streamer.
on People
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
