Emma Caulfield Shares MS Diagnosis After Risky Experience Filming ‘WandaVision’

Emma Caulfield, who played Anya in Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Dottie Jones in WandaVision, has shared that she was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 2010 while working on the television show Gigantic. She kept her diagnosis a secret from co-workers, friends, and family — until now.

In a new interview with Vanity Fair, the actor explained, “I woke up one morning and the left side of my face felt like there were a million ants crawling on it,” later confirming the feeling as “pin and needles.” She added, “I was moving everything [her muscles]. It was just constantly itching. I would take a needle [and do] a little pain test just to see…. There was clearly a lack of feeling.”

After a “hell-ish” year of seeing specialists, she was diagnosed with MS while on set. “So I go to work and I’m shooting a scene. I remember I had this amazing Hervé Léger dress and it was just fantastic. And I looked…extra. The character was a bit extra as well. My hair was really curled and I was in three and a half inch stilettos,” recalled Caulfield.

She continued, “I was like, ‘I’m feeling myself right now.’ I had a missed call from the doctor’s office, so I called back. I’m just like, ‘What’s up?’ I had five minutes down or whatever. And he was like: ‘You have MS.’ Just like that. It was like an out-of-body experience”

Given Caulfield’s family’s history with the disease (her father had MS), the actor knew how serious the condition is, but she remained motivated to “keep [her] shit together,” even if it meant filming WandaVision in Atlanta’s summer heat.

The 49-year-old said, “We had started shooting in Atlanta and then the pandemic happened. Everything got shut down. We were never supposed to be shooting any of these outdoor, big costume scenes [in late summer]. All that was supposed to happen in spring, but it didn’t.”

Caulfield took precautions on set to protect her comprised immune system, but found that the “unbearable” heat was making her weak. However, she proceeded to keep her diagnosis under wraps and credited her symptoms to the weather. The actor told herself, “Just shut up. Just do your job. This is the first time you’re working with Marvel. This is a big fucking deal. Do not bring attention to yourself.”

In the profile, Caulfield also announced that she’s reprising her WandaVision role in the upcoming spin-off Agatha: Coven of Chaos, which will star Kathryn Hahn and Elizabeth Olsen. This encouraged the actor to open up about her MS diagnosis, saying that she “can’t put [herself] through what [she] did with WandaVision again.” She was met with support from WandaVision creator Jacqueline Schaeffer, who is set to helm the spin-off.

Agatha: Coven of Chaos is expected to premiere on Disney+ in 2023.