LOS ANGELES — Erin Moriarty, who plays Starlight on the Prime Video series “The Boys,” disclosed in a personal essay for Time magazine that she was diagnosed with Graves’ disease in May 2025 after struggling with severe undiagnosed symptoms for nearly two years.
Moriarty, 31, wrote that her symptoms began in September 2023. She described memory failure, incapacitating fatigue, intense mood swings, weakness and numbness in her hands and feet, heart palpitations and persistent urinary pain.
“The most frightening symptom of all was the cognitive decline,” she wrote. “My short-term memory deteriorated so severely that learning even simple lines became difficult — terrifying when you’re filming a television show.”
Moriarty said she was referred to a neurologist while continuing to film the final season of “The Boys.” She noted the challenge of managing chronic illness symptoms publicly.
“I was going through the physical hell of chronic illness on a public stage,” she wrote. “Doing it in private is emotionally damaging enough, but to have my physical symptoms be speculated about, trivialized, and dismissed was devastating.”
In May 2025, as filming wrapped, she received the diagnosis. “The day I was given a diagnosis was the day my life began again,” she stated. “Not because it instantly fixed everything, but because it finally gave shape to the chaos. It gave language to suffering that had gone on for years.”
Moriarty revealed that months after beginning treatment, she was hospitalized on Aug. 1, 2025, following a severe mental-health crisis.
“As my physical health began to improve, I realized how absent from myself I had been for the previous two years,” she wrote. “I had been hormonally dysregulated, cognitively impaired, and psychologically untethered for so long that recovery didn’t bring me peace. It brought me clarity. And for me, clarity arrived carrying grief.”
She described grieving lost time that affected her professionally, creatively, relationally and psychologically. “I spent at least two years of my life physically present but mentally unreachable,” she stated.
Moriarty said she felt compelled to speak publicly. “Illnesses that disproportionately affect women are still too often minimized, misunderstood, or exaggerated,” she wrote. “Silence has consequences. Ignorance does, too. And so, remaining silent about this is no longer an option for me.”
She expressed hope that her story could help others. “I hope the transparency surrounding my symptoms can help even one person catch their illness earlier than I caught mine,” she wrote. “The body speaks long before it screams. Listen to yourself before your body is forced to scream loud enough for the world to hear it, too.”
Background on Graves’ Disease
Graves’ disease is an autoimmune disorder in which the thyroid gland produces too much thyroid hormone. According to medical sources, common symptoms include rapid heartbeat, anxiety, weight loss, fatigue, tremors and cognitive difficulties.
Moriarty had previously hinted at health challenges during production of “The Boys” but had not detailed the extent of her condition until the Time essay published on May 21, 2026.
Career Context
Moriarty has portrayed Annie January, also known as Starlight, on “The Boys” since the series premiered in 2019. She also appeared in the spin-off series “Gen V” and has roles in other projects, including “Jessica Jones.” She continued working through her symptoms during the final season of “The Boys,” which wrapped filming in 2025.
The actress has used her platform to raise awareness about health issues that disproportionately affect women. She described the essay as a step toward greater transparency about invisible illnesses.
