James Marsden has praised Christina Applegate as "inspiring" amid her battle with Multiple Sclerosis (MS).

James Marsden

James Marsden

The 48-year-old actor admitted his 'Dead to Me' co-star is a "compassionate, wonderful human being" who will "fight through" following her diagnosis with the autoimmune disease - which affects the central nervous system - earlier this year.

He said: "That is her character. It is just who she is. Nothing is going to keep her down and she is going to battle and fight through anything and I admire her as a person.

"Just as a compassionate, wonderful human being who is fun to work with but is also, in addition to that, anything that life will throw at her, she will figure out a way to not let it keep her down. And she is doing exactly that and it is really, really inspiring to see."

But James admitted he is not shocked about Christina's resilience, because that is how she is.

Speaking to 'Entertainment Tonight', he added: "Honestly, that is no surprise to me because that's who she is as a character and as a human being."

Christina revealed in August she had been diagnosed with MS a few months beforehand.

She wrote: "Hi friends. A few months ago I was diagnosed with MS. It’s been a strange journey. But I have been so supported by people that I know who also have this condition. It’s been a tough road. But as we all know, the road keeps going. Unless some a****** blocks it."

Netflix dark comedy 'Dead to Me' features Christina (Jen Harding) and Linda Cardellini (Judy Hale) as two grieving women who bond during therapy.

James starred as Steve Wood, Judy's ex-fiance, and in the second series he played Ben Wood, Steve's identical twin brother and a love interest for Jen.

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