"She is not a superhero—nobody is—but she is beating this," the actor told Us magazine. "She is stepping out. She was on Oprah. She is making an effort to make everyone aware of everything that she learned from this—how to prevent and save lives." 

Indeed, Applegate has been very proactive in telling the story of her double mastectomy, including a touching and intimate revelation that she photographed her breasts from every angle before parting with them.

Applegate has been lying low since her triumphant walk down the Emmy red carpet on September 21.

In just six days, her critically acclaimed (and Emmy winning) series Samantha Who? returns to television.