Rebecca Gayheart shared the “powerful moment” she experienced with her late husband, Eric Dane, that left him “visibly emotional” shortly before his tragic death last month.
In the weeks leading up to his passing, the “Grey’s Anatomy” star lent his voice to a restoration project spearheaded by AI firm ElevenLabs with the goal to use past recordings of Dane’s voice to create a synthetic replica of the actor’s voice.
Dane “was really excited about it, because he was losing his voice, and it was becoming more difficult for him to communicate each and every day. So it became sort of urgent,” Gayheart, 54, told Variety in an interview published on Wednesday.
The actor’s participation was inspired by a final effort to leave something behind for his teenage daughters, Billie,16, and Georgia, 14.
“He was waiting anxiously to hear it, and when we got it from ElevenLabs it was a really big moment. It was a powerful moment. We played it, and Eric became visibly emotional,” Gayheart shared.
“And when I heard it, I cried. I think everyone in the room did.”
In connection with the project, the AI firm also produced a docuseries titled, “11 Voices,” which Dane was reportedly supposed to star in with a bonus episode.
However, he was ultimately unable to make an appearance in the series because his amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) condition worsened. Instead, Gayheart is planning to speak as part of a panel tied to the series’ SXSW premiere, which will take place on March 13.
“He wanted to advocate for love and for the movement [around ALS] and so I’m there to do this for him,” she explained.
“For a million people to get a voice to be able to communicate with their children or their loved ones or their caretakers or their doctors or in their job — this is a really huge movement.”
On the actor’s death, Gayheart told the outlet she and her family are “still in shock” since his passing. But, she echoed her previous statement as she thanked those who had shown support for her family in the years since Dane’s 2024 ALS diagnosis.
“I’m having trouble receiving all of the support and love coming at me from every which way because of Eric and the [entertainment] community that’s so generous with their time,” she said.
“They’ve been holding me and the girls up the last two weeks, and I don’t think they’re going anywhere. I think they’re in it for the long haul. Hollywood gets a bad rap. That kind of makes me mad, because we have a lovely community of people, and I’m so grateful for them.”
Dane died on Feb. 19 following a nearly two-year battle with ALS. He was 53 years old.
The actor was “surrounded by dear friends, his devoted wife, and his two beautiful daughters,” the family said in a statement confirming his death at the time.
On March 2, it was reported that Dane’s cause of death was respiratory failure.
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