CBS via Getty; Paul Archuleta/Getty Brandon Hammond, who audiences saw as a kid in big '90s movies such asSpace Jam,Waiting to Exhale,Menace II Society, andMars Attacks!, seemed to disappear from the screen by the end of the decade. And he was still a teenager. Hammond explained in a newinterview with PEOPLEthat the reason is, when he was 13 — and was just experiencing the success ofSoul Food— he received scary health news. "I was diagnosed with this super, super rare, autoimmune condition called Castleman disease," he said. According to theCleveland Clinic, Castleman disease is "a group of disorders that involve a hyperactive immune system." For Hammond, "I had all these chest pains, and my eye was flushed out red, just all types of physiological things were happening to me that we could not explain." he recounted. "And I was traveling all over — to Baltimore, to the National Institute of Health, to Cincinnati Children's Hospital, Cedars-Sinai, UCLA, USC, and could not figure things out." Bob Riha, Jr./Getty He noted that, just before the diagnosis, he and the rest of the team behind the 1997 modern classicSoul Foodhad "an unbelievable night" at the NAACP Image Awards in 1998, where the movie took home four awards, including one for Hammond and another for Outstanding Motion Picture. But he was "fighting for my life, basically," just a few months later. He made just a few on-camera appearances over the next few years, including on TV'sThe West WingandEarly Edition. Now 41, he said people have asked him what happened, but he's usually given "vague" answers, because he didn't want to talk about it. He alleged that his agents didn't want him to get into it either. Sign up forEntertainment Weekly's free daily newsletterto get breaking TV news, exclusive first looks, recaps, reviews, interviews with your favorite stars, and more. "I was kind of told not to talk about it," Hammond said. "Of course, in hindsight, I regret that, right? But I was just following what I was told to do. My agents told me to keep it under wraps." He's speaking out now as he's creating a reunion documentary calledSunday Dinner: The Soul Food Reunion, which was inspired by similar tributes to '90s favoritesThe Fresh Prince of Bel-AirandFriends. Read the original article onEntertainment Weekly
0 Comments