Lauren Weedman talks life after bell’s palsy diagnosis 'I’ve accepted it more'

Lauren Weedman is reflecting on life nearly two years after her Bell’s palsy diagnosis, revealing how she’s learned to embrace the changes to her face and outlook.

The 57-year-old actress spoke exclusively with People at the Los Angeles premiere of HBO Max’s Hacks season 5 on Wednesday, April 8, sharing a candid update about her health and how her perspective has shifted since her diagnosis in August 2024.

“I have permanent nerve damage,” Weedman said. “And so, I'll never have a smile thing. The [photographer] down there said, ‘Give us a smile, big smile.’ I was like, ‘I have a disability.’ But I’ve accepted it more.”

Weedman admitted that coming to terms with the diagnosis was difficult at first. “I was secretly very sad,” she explained. 

“I didn't realize I was sad until the physical therapist kept going, ‘It's a chronic condition. It's never going to go away, Lauren. You're always going to have this.’ And I was like, ‘I don't know how to even process that.’”

The actress noted that the challenge of adjusting to her changed appearance felt intertwined with the natural process of aging. “And to think you're not going to look like you, is such a... but that's aging too, so it's going hand-in-hand,” she said.

Weedman credited other celebrities and her family with helping her embrace her new normal. 

Actor Joe Mantegna, who was diagnosed with Bell’s palsy in 1988, offered encouragement during a chance encounter. 

“He said, ‘Don't worry, this is your face. It's a good face and you got to accept it. It is what it is,’” Weedman recalled. “Something about him — such a good actor — made me feel, ‘Thank you.’”