11 November 2024
Olivia Williams has lost her inhibitions since being diagnosed with cancer.
Olivia Williams says she feels even more disinhibited following her cancer diagnosis
The 'Sixth Sense' star was diagnosed with rare neuroendocrine cancer - which is slow-growing and can occur anywhere in the digestive tract - in 2018 after four years of symptoms and she admitted she cares much less about what people think of her now as she's more aware of her own mentality.
She told The Observer magazine: "Since 2018, I feel the disinhibition kicked in.
"So watch out, because I’m even more disinhibited, or less inhibited, than I was.
"I’m a great believer in denial. I think that’s how I’m coping.
"I think I am a bit more courageous in that. I’m a bit more blunt...
“Because how bad can it be? You’re going to die, so it doesn’t matter.”
The 56-year-old actress is grateful the primary tumour in her pancreas hasn't returned but she has needed multiple operations on her liver to "zap" fresh growths.
She said: "It was quite obviously bad news to find I had a 7x4cm tumour in my pancreas, but it was really f****** awful news that it had gone to my liver, which is the problem now.
"The primary cancer they cut out hasn’t come back. I have a third of a functioning pancreas, which is great, but the liver ones keep popping up.
"But every now and then, I have to zap these metastases."
The 'Dune: Prophecy' star spoke of how "dehumanising" the process of getting insured for work has become because the experts don't even "look" at her.
She said: "My insurance meetings are hilarious.
"They don't look at you. They don't see you. They don't take it from the doctor that you're a walking, talking human being.
"They're just on to the oncologist every day, going, 'How can you guarantee that this person isn't going to die during production?' "
English (US) ·