For ‘Hot Zone,’ Margulies confronts claustrophobia and Ebola

FILE - This June 7, 2018 file photo shows Julianna Margulies at the 46th AFI Life Achievement Award Honoring George Clooney in Los Angeles. Margulies stars in the upcoming limited series "The Hot Zone." (Photo by Willy Sanjuan/Invision/AP, File)

LOS ANGELES — Actress Julianna Margulies knew she was claustrophobic, but she didn’t realize just how much until she had to wear a sealed, full-body biosafety suit while filming the upcoming limited series “The Hot Zone.”

Margulies spent hours in the suit while filming the six-part show about how the deadly Ebola virus appeared on U.S. soil in 1989. She says the experience, which she describes as strange, lonely and extremely constrictive, brought her to tears three times.

But it was worth it, she says, to tell a story that will allow audiences to see Ebola as a global problem. Margulies hopes the series will drive home the importance of scientists and research.

“The Hot Zone ” premieres on National Geographic on May 27.

Amanda Lee Myers, The Associated Press