The emotional documentary “Introducing, Selma Blair” starts on an unexpectedly hilarious note. The 49-year-old actress, who was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS) a …
The emotional documentary “Introducing, Selma Blair” starts on an unexpectedly hilarious note. The 49-year-old actress, who was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS) a few years ago, makes joke after joke as she applies her makeup. “Kim Kardashian sent me some makeup. I’m going to do a shoutout to her ’cause, God knows, no one knows who she is,” Blair quips as she glides a dark shade from the influencer across her lips. She moves on to painting her brows, saying, “More is more, especially when you have no eyelashes,” and “I feel like Cruella, but I feel good in this choice.” But then, after several minutes of banter, while clad in an animal-print dress and a sparkly turban, Blair grows suddenly tired. Her speech becomes stilted and she struggles to get words out. “Well, this is what happens that I don’t want people to see,” she says, subtitles appearing on the screen to help the audience understand her. The documentary, in theaters Friday and on discovery+ Oct.21, gives an intimate, unvarnished look at Blair’s struggles with the autoimmune disorder and her journey to undergo a potentially fatal stem cell transplant. “She just kept showing up for me each day and telling me the truth and giving me herself in her fullness, which is extremely generous and very unique,” the film’s director, Rachel Fleit, told The Post, adding that Blair gave her complete creative freedom. Blair wasn’t involved in the documentary’s editing and only requested one change: correcting a family photo that was mislabeled. “Her hand in… the shaping of the narrative was completely absent,” noted Fleit,40, who is based in Brooklyn. With iconic turns in “Cruel Intentions” — which included a risqué-for-the-time kiss with Sarah Michelle Gellar — “Legally Blonde” and “The Sweetest Thing,” Blair epitomized a certain sort of cool in the ’90s and early aughts. She was never the perky blonde star, but rather the darker, more intriguing supporting character with a lithe glamour, simmering intelligence and stealthy gaze. She went on to have a successful TV career, appearing in shows such as “Anger Management,” “Kath & Kim” and “The People v.
