Hey everyone,
I wanted to share this video with you, as we all take in the reality of Eric Dane’s passing. As I say at the end, may Eric’s death somehow be a blessing and somehow ignite the souls of those who are meant to cure and end ALS.
This is a very special week to be celebrating Eric’s life.
Tomorrow, we release a deeply inspiring conversation with Mitch Albom, who authored the famed book, Tuesdays with Morrie. I hope you will head to YouTube and spend some time with us. Every like, comment, subscribe, and share helps to spread awareness about ALS and gets us closer to ending this disease.
Thank you for all of your love and support, always.
- Aaron
(Full transcript of the video below.)
Just want to take just a couple moments to remember Eric, talk a little bit about my my relationship with him. It’s literally one year, almost to the day, that I was cast in a show on Amazon called the countdown Eric’s show. I’d always wanted to work with Eric Dane. I mean, who hadn’t, right? He’s a television legend, and I got cast in this show really unexpectedly.
I hadn’t auditioned for an acting job in a long time, and this audition came up to play the governor of California on a new show on Amazon called the countdown, and starring Eric Dane. And I thought, man, I’ve always wanted to work with this guy, but how am I going to play the governor of California? That’ll be interesting to play. You know, the most powerful character I’ve ever played in, the weakest physical body I’d ever been in. This is one year ago, guys, almost to the day I send in the tape, I get cast. Thank you. Sarah wergan, my love and my reader, and I show up to set and I meet Eric for the first of the three episodes I was going to be in. And by the way, Eric is the the series regular on the show that I’m going to be spending three episodes with. There’s a bunch of regulars on the show, but Eric and Joe’s character, but mostly Eric, like he’s the guy. So I think, all right, well, that’s cool. And I get introduced to Eric, we shake hands, and I noticed something’s wrong with his hand, and I say to him, I sort of just clock it. And then we pass in the hallway of this location that we were at, and I just said, Hey, dude, what’s what’s up with your hand? Are you all right? And he said, I think I have what you have. And I just thought what I didn’t even really, I was kind of just, you know, stunned. And he said, Yeah, you know, a couple months ago, I was telling one of my friends that I think I’m this is what the diagnosis is. And she said, Have you heard of Aaron? Lazar? He’s like, No, I don’t know who that is. She said, I love you too, my Joe. She said, Well, you should look him up. And he said, and now here you are on set. And I just was like, so you didn’t have anything to do with me getting this job. He said, No, dude, I had no fucking idea who you are. And that is the beginning of this chapter of knowing Eric. I like two actors with ALS on the same TV show. Has that ever happened? I wish it had gotten more attention instead of celebrating the the horrors of this disease, instead of drawing attention all the time to the tragedy of this disease, we were two guys with ALS working iron. Health insurance for a year on that job. I thank the casting director, Donna Rosenstein. I thank Amazon. I thank the show runners and producers for being open to casting a guy with ALS as the governor of California.
And there we were, two guys with ALS on the same TV show, and I got to spend, you know, two more episodes on the show with Eric. And look, man, we did not become amazing friends, right? He’s a very private guy, very cool guy. We became just buddies, sort of connected through this shitty disease, and we worked great together. Go watch those three episodes as you celebrate Eric’s life and his work. Watch the last three episodes of the countdown. I mean, watch it all, but watch the last three, and let me know what you think. I really had a good time working with him, and I appreciated how hard it must have been for him, knowing how hard it was for me to show up on set and just do a couple scenes, Eric’s there right as a series regular, sometimes all day or all night. And then Eric went and did it again, on an episode of brilliant minds, where they cast him as a firefighter with ALS, and he had to put in long hours on location. I think they shoot in Toronto, and my friend Charles directed the episode. There was a very brief moment where a song from my album, the duet with Josh Groban, let your soul be your pilot, almost made it onto that episode, but for whatever reason, it didn’t happen. But that was Eric showing up and doing His work and being creative and sharing his story and through a character, right?
And I was then asked by the ALS network to present Eric with his advocacy of the Year Award last month. And so I was texting with Eric and, you know, trying to gain some more insight into what if anything he might want me to share? And you know, he just said, buddy, I don’t know if I’m gonna be able to make it. And he couldn’t make it to the event due to, you know, the disease. We celebrated him. I celebrated him and spoke of his advocacy with friends and family of his that were there the ALS network, talking about Eric’s trip to Washington, DC to meet with policymakers and keep the act for ALS going, $500 million to help end this fucking disease. Eric was in a suit and tie at the Capitol. People been texting me all day, and as I said, you know, we were not, we were not such close friends that Eric’s death would hit me the way it’s hitting his close Friends and family. And so I offer my just my condolences, right, but all the grace and love and strength in the world to everyone that is being affected by Eric’s passing, his soul’s transitioning and crossing over. Eric’s kids, his two teenage daughters. I have two teenage sons. I made a joke. The opening line of my speech for Eric was Eric. Dane and I have a lot more in common than just a couple initials. We both. I. Um, worked together on the countdown. We both starred in shows called The Last Ship, Eric on television and me on Broadway. And we both played doctors on TV. Eric, of course, the legendary doctor, Mark, what’s his name? MC steamy, and I played a serial killer orthodontist in an episode of Blue Bloods. That’s actually a true story, but the last thing I said about Eric in my speech was in doing what he did for this last year of his life, as an advocate, as an actor, working through this he’s not only inspiring and giving hope To people touched by this disease all over the world, right?
Eric is a global, global celebrity. He’s not only helping raise awareness for this disease in a major way, but he is inspiring impossible dreams, the impossible dream of finding a cure to this disease. And he’s showing his children that nothing is impossible. Nothing is impossible, you know, because just to get up and be a dad living with ALS can feel like it’s impossible, and Eric did that for as long as he could.
So I just wanted to share that and say to everybody out there who is mourning and celebrating Eric’s life, may it be a blessing. Somehow may Eric’s death somehow be a blessing and somehow ignite the souls of those who are meant to cure and end ALS, I hope, Eric, I know you’re listening. Be a spirit guide for me. Man, help me do the work that I’m doing to be a part of that. And much love to you and to your family and your friends, and my thanks and love to all of you for all of your love and support.
