The last time we wrote about Aaron Lazar ’98, the stage and screen actor was onstage in Greensboro, North Carolina, telling his own story. He had been shocked by a 2022 ALS diagnosis, as he told us for our 2024 story, but had chosen to defy fear and live fully.
This was only the beginning of his “Impossible Dream” platform, it turns out.
The year and a half since those interviews have been full for Lazar. The Los Angeles resident called on a busy September 2025 afternoon (he’d just gotten out of one call and had another immediately after) and talked about all the new in his life. New star-studded podcast launching in October. New Grammy-nominated album, also star-studded (It features Neil Patrick Harris, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Josh Groban). New Substack newsletter. New romance. New recurring role in a TV show. New medical AI initiative that he can’t say much about just yet, other than it relates to amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, the degenerative, usually fatal disease that he has willed himself to survive.
“This thing threatens to pull you into the shadows,” Lazar says. He was more introspective in our 2024 conversation. Now he’s electric with enthusiasm. “When you look at how I've approached [ALS] – and how a number of the reversals of ALS have approached it – it involves a lot of prayer, a lot of positivity, a lot of mindfulness, a lot of mind-body connection and a lot of meditation.”
We caught up with Lazar to see how his “Impossible Dream” platform, which was named for the song from his first major stage role in “Man of La Mancha,” has expanded from a one-man stage show. It remains driven by his stubborn refusal to let difficult odds win.
Corbie Hill: You’ve told me that you were in the middle of a transformation when we talked for the 2024 story. It sounds like that was kind of the beginning of where you are now, rather than the destination.
Aaron Lazar: I don't think there is a destination. I used to live life for the destination and judge myself, my self-worth and my level of success based on my ability to achieve. When you and I had our first conversation, I was in a place of learning, really transitioning out of that way of living my life into learning how to be positive and present and in the moment. The journey is the thing, right? That sounds like a cliche, but it really is part of a spiritual awakening. I've lived it. I've experienced it.
CH: Your “Impossible Dream” album came out since the story, too.
AL: The album surprised me and everybody with a Grammy nomination. I went to the Grammys this year with my kids and my partner, which was awesome.
That chapter quieted down and I started a Substack called “Aaron Lazar’s Impossible Dream.” I've been working on a memoir and wanted to see if I can write the memoir myself. I just fell in love with writing. I write stories on show business and self-transformation. As I was doing that, I got approached to do a podcast, and the pieces came together very quickly for that. We launch October 7, season one. I’ve got 20 episodes already shot. It's a video podcast, and our guests are just incredible. We've already started shooting season two. “The Impossible Dream” became the anthem of my life and is now a platform that allows me to help other people live their impossible dreams while I live mine.
CH: I saw on Instagram that Kristin Chenoweth is one of your podcast guests. Who else are you talking to? What are you getting into?
AL: The podcast is to inspire people to know that nothing is impossible by talking to people who have lived their dreams. You know, how does Mark Cuban own over 100 businesses? How does Dr. David Feigenbaum run [the nonprofit] Every Cure after surviving a very rare disease called Castleman disease? He died. He was read his last rites five times over three years, and now he's running a $100 million-plus nonprofit to use AI to solve diseases.
I'm really talking to people that are thought leaders and impossible dreamers across all different verticals. Montel Williams was on the show. The vice chairman of The New York Times was on the show. Our official charity champion is the ALS Network. The podcast is also me, a guy with ALS, inspiring other people and their families out there with ALS or other diseases.
CH: You were also in the Amazon show “Countdown.” Can you tell me about that role as George Shelby?
AL: It was a big surprise. I really haven't done a lot of acting over the last couple years, as I've been working on these other projects and building the “Impossible Dream” platform, but I auditioned and got cast as the governor of California. I'm playing the most powerful character I've ever played in the weakest physical body that I've ever had. I was really proud to be that kind of inspiration to other people who deal with disease. It can really mess with your sense of self, your sense of self-worth, your sense of identity, your body, your mind.
I get to set, and I shake Eric Dane's hand, and I noticed that something is very wrong. We start chatting on a break, and he said, “I think I've got what you've got.” And I just was pretty speechless. I mean, to have two actors on the same show dealing with ALS. I'm in a couple episodes and each of my scenes is with Eric.
It's a testament to the producers and the creators of “Countdown” and to Amazon for casting me. Eric had not spoken publicly yet about what he was going through. The show just ended season one, so we'll see if they pick it up for second season.
CH: Would your character be back for season two?
AL: George Shelby is making a run for the president. There was an update on the show in one of the trades that said George Shelby (Aaron Lazar) is either making a run for the presidency of the United States or is next up in line for the presidency United States. I sent the sentence to my parents, and I said, ”I think this may be the only time you can read a sentence that says, ‘Aaron Lazar is next in line for the presidency of the United States.’”
