Oscar-winning British director reveals secret cancer diagnosis two years ago

Blitz and 12 Years A Slave director Steve McQueen battled prostate cancer in secret two years ago.

The 55-year-old British director has revealed he was diagnosed with the illness shortly before he started filming his new World War II movie Blitz.

He was forced to push the shoot back by two weeks so he could undergo surgery to remove a cancerous tumour, but was determined to keep working despite his health crisis.

‘[I] discovered that I had developed this cancer, this tumour, a small tumour, and therefore obviously caught it very, very, early,’ he told Deadline.

‘I delayed the shoot by two weeks and then had the procedure.’

The Hollywood director spent two days in hospital and then had almost two weeks off before he got back to work on the film.

He added: ‘I was just doing stuff in bed on the computer, working, emailing and whatever, but I kept it private at that stage…

‘Two weeks after the procedure I was on set shooting [the film].’

Steve revealed he didn’t tell any of the Blitz cast and crew about his illness because he didn’t want them to be ‘concerned’.

Only his wife and close family members knew about the diagnosis at the time.

Steve added: ‘I really just wanted to get on with the job. And that’s kind of like who I am. I’m a ‘get on with it’ kind of person.’

The filmmaker added that he’s now ‘fully recovered and fully functional’ and puts his recovery down to early detection of the cancer.

‘The cancer’s gone and that’s down to early detection,’ he explained. ‘It’s a cancer that if you detect early, it’s totally survivable and curable.’

Steve – whose father died of the same cancer – had regular check-ups and he is adamant men shouldn’t ignore potential problems.

He recommends they should take part in regular screenings to make sure any issues are picked up early.

Blitz has been met with rave reviews, as Metro wrote he perfected lump-in-throat filmmaking with the World War Two, Hans Zimmer-scored drama.

Blitz centres around a family – grandfather Gerald (played by Paul Weller) his daughter Rita (Saoirse Ronan) and grandson, protagonist George (played by newcomer Elliot Heffernan) – who live in the East End during Nazi Germany’s bombing campaign of 1940-41.

The epic was released in UK cinemas on November 1, and will then be available to stream on Apple TV+ on November 22.

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