Selma Blair's battle with multiple sclerosis the subject of new documentary
Former "Cruel Intentions" star Selma Blair has been public with her battle with multiple sclerosis since she revealed her diagnosis in 2018. Now, her experience of living with the autoimmune disease is the subject of a new documentary, "Introducing, Selma Blair."
The 48-year-old star, who has been open about her trials and tribulations with her more than 2.4 million-follower Instagram feed, is taking her journey to the SXSW Film Festival, where the documentary debuted on Tuesday.
"Selma says in the beginning of the film, 'Now I just want to be a better person,'" director Rachel Fleit told Deadline. "The way that she is a better person is really by being of service to the world, by sharing what she’s going through with specificity and honesty."
The filmmaker reveals she bonded with Blair immediately over a Zoom call, during which she confessed to the actress that she has lived with an autoimmune disease of her own, alopecia universalis.
"Selma was like, 'You’re bald and I have MS! And so, what are we going to do about it?' We just sort of had this instantaneous bond … I can’t explain it."
Fleit tells the trade, "The thing that I learned from her, you know we have to embrace ourselves ... We've got ... one life in this body and whether or not you have an autoimmune disorder or disease or not, we must embrace ourselves ... She shows us what it means to just be grateful for what we have."
The documentary will run at the festival, and later on the streaming service Discovery+.
