Selma Blair Gives Candid Update About Life With MS: 'I'm So Much Better, but It Haunts My Physical Cells'

Heather Hazzan

Selma Blair is reflecting on life with multiple sclerosis.

In her cover story for Self magazine's January issue, the actress, 50, got candid about how the autoimmune condition continues to impact her life since her August 2018 diagnosis.

"I'm so much better, but it haunts my physical cells. It's there," she told the outlet.

"Some people wake up two years later and they're like, 'I'm healed! Colors are brighter!'" she added. "But I never had that moment. I just stopped having regression."

Often known as an "invisible" disease, MS affects the central nervous system and is unpredictable, affecting different people in multiple different ways. While this can make it challenging to work in the entertainment industry, Blair is determined to fight for her place both in front of and behind the cameras — and for those of other people with disabilities.

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"Yes, there's a spectrum of peoples' abilities. Absolutely. But you are what you are and it requires accommodations," said the Cruel Intentions star about the need for workplaces to embrace people from all walks of life.

"There's just so much realizing that people feel that they are a burden, and it takes away from your work," she added. "It takes away from focusing on your right to be there just as much as everyone else on the set."

The solution, said Blair, is to adopt the mindset of "Let's get used to this. Let's build this into our base camps."

Blair fiercely displayed this attitude herself when she signed on for season 31 of Dancing with the Stars, which she described as "immersion therapy" following her decision to step back in October, citing concerns over the impact the intense practice schedule was having on her body.

RELATED: Selma Blair's Inspiring Dancing with the Stars Journey, in Her Own Words

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"You know I've been monitored and in touch with my doctors this whole process," Blair told her partner Sasha Farber in a pre-taped package. "I had these MRIs and when the results came back, it just all adds up to I can't. I can't. I can't go on with the competition. I pushed as far as I could."

Speaking to Self, she revealed more about why she pushed her body to the limit on the dance floor.

"I think I actually need this," Blair recalled thinking about her decision to dance through her pain. "I think it's important for people with chronic illness or disabilities to see what they can do. I deserve to have a good time and try."

Blair also saw it as an opportunity to inspire others to pursue their dreams and to show the wider world that people with MS are capable of far more than they imagined.

"It's not just so the person in the room can get up there," she told Self about the need to reduce the stigma of MS and other disabilities. "It's so the viewer at home normalizes that the kid in the wheelchair or the braces or with cerebral palsy — whatever it is that makes them feel different than the person that can just bounce up with their heels — can be in the movies. It's like, I can dream this. It's built in that I can dream this. There is a way for me to get up there."

RELATED: Selma Blair Shares Inspirational Message to Son Arthur After Leaving DWTS Due to MS Concerns

Heather Hazzan

After Blair's self-elimination in October, the DWTS competitors shared their love and support for the Introducing, Selma Blair filmmaker.

"It was [a] shock, pure unadulterated shock. I heard nothing about it going into it," Wayne Brady told reporters, including PEOPLE, after the show. "And she lights up this competition."

"Selma truly is the light that we've all gravitated to and we're all close now," he added. "So, it's a loss."

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Blair and pro dance partner Sasha Farber performed one last dance — a Waltz to "What the World Needs Now" — in her emotional last episode.

Weeks later she returned for the show's finale for one final dance with Farber, and included a special message for her 11-year-old son Arthur.

"Arthur, I love you the most and I just want to say, I loved this," Blair said about her experience on the show. "Sometimes there's going to be uncomfortable things to do in life and you just do it with a smile."