Selma Blair Refuses to Let Multiple Sclerosis Diagnosis Be a ‘Tragedy’

Millennials grew up with Selma Blair as the effortlessly stylish and occasionally awkward star of Cruel Intentions, Legally Blonde and The Sweetest Thing, but in recent years she's largely been out of the spotlight, focused on being a mother to 7-year-old Arthur. Last October, Blair revealed that she'd also taken a step back from public life after being diagnosed with multiple sclerosis following years of debilitating symptoms.

On Sunday, Blair made her first public appearance at the Vanity Fair Oscars after party, looking absolutely flawless in a flowing Ralph & Russo gown (the hair was also extremely right) and walking with a black cane (customized by nail expert Tom Bachik). "I am disabled," Blair told reporters, according to Quartzy. "I fall sometimes. I drop things."

On Tuesday morning, Good Morning America aired Blair's first on-air interview about her diagnosis. The actress sat down with Robin Roberts and spoke at length about her disease and the ways it has impacted her life, most notably her stuttered speech, a symptom of spasmodic dysphonia. Blair explained that she cried when she was initially diagnosed, but that the tears "weren't tears of panic, they were tears of knowing I now had to give into a body that had loss of control. And there was some relief in that."

Throughout the interview, Blair's ability to speak so candidly about her illness and to find humor in it was refreshing. "Wouldn't it be funny if I fell in," Blair joked while walking Roberts past her pool. Can I please hug her?

Later that day, Vanity Fair released its own profile on Blair -- complete with stunning (and topless!) photos -- that's full of the same refusal to be less in the face of her diagnosis. She likens her vocal tremor to "Katharine Hepburn in On Golden Pond" and, when explaining she'd like to help improve fashion for disabled people, says she she wants to "get elastic waistbands to look a little bit better."

"There's no tragedy for me," she told Vanity Fair. "I'm happy, and if I can help anyone be more comfortable in their skin, it's more than I've ever done before."

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