Eric Dane guest starred on an episode of the Zachary Quinto -fronted Brilliant Minds Monday night, playing an ALS patient — which Dane himself was diagnosed with.

In the episode, Dane plays Matthew, a firefighter who struggles to tell his family about his ALS diagnosis — and later struggles to accept help from them as the prognosis progresses. The episode is set against the backdrop of Thanksgiving.

“We really wanted to honor him and his experience and be really truthful about it. [We] didn’t want to sensationalize in any way,” Michael Grassi, the NBC medical drama’s creator and showrunner, explained over a call ahead of the episode’s airing.

Eric Dane guest starred on an episode of the Zachary Quinto -fronted Brilliant Minds Monday night, playing an ALS patient — which Da

See Full Page