The 'Legally Blonde' actress spoke at the 'Travel + Leisure' World’s Best Summit on July 16 about the importance of accessible travel for people with disabilities

Mike Coppola/Getty Selma Blair attends Travel + Leisure World's Best Summit

"I have dystonia, which is often misunderstood as difficult or drunk,” the Legally Blonde actress Tells Travel + Leisure Editor-in-Chief Jacqui Gifford. “Which I could be,” she joked.

The audience, who were in attendance at Travel + Leisure’s annual World’s Best Summit in New York City, broke out into laughter. The two-day event, July 15-16, explored top trends in the travel industry, including accessible travel.

Mike Coppola/Getty Selma Blair and Travel + Leisure Editor-in-Chief Jacqui Gifford

Blair, 53, continued, “When I actually have to hone in, I can get a little bit of spasticity and my dystonia kicks in — so I was always kind of nervous to travel even though it was the biggest light in my life.”

Blair was officially diagnosed with the autoimmune disease in 2018 — and has been in remission since 2021 — but shared with British Vogue in 2023 that she had lived for 40 years before learning she had MS.

The actress said the disease is unpredictable, but that her body tends to agitate when she is distressed.

“MS is totally strange. We're not making it up, usually, I mean unless it's a really bad dinner,” Blair jokes. “I go under scaffolding and all of a sudden it sounds like I have cerebral palsy — so the airport is stressful.”

Blair revealed that she sometimes loses vision and passes out at the airport, but staff won’t realize that she is disabled.

“There can be a lot of misunderstanding and a lot of crying at airports, even if things go well,” Blair said. “People will say ‘I saw you walk up to this gate and now you’re acting like you can’t talk.' It’s like, 'No this isn’t manipulation.' And then as soon as I talk, they ask me, 'Do we need the police?’.”

Despite the challenges that come with traveling, Blair has a fondness for exploring new places and trying new foods. She told Gifford that travel was an important part of her development as a child, and now she loves to show her 13-year-old son Arthur new countries.

“Arthur was raised in hotels, we call him the Prince of the Chateau because the travel has made him able to talk to anyone — it’s such a great thing," she said.