Actress Lucy Davis has said she is “grateful” for the support of her fans as she attended a sci-fi convention after revealing she has incurable breast cancer.
The Office star, 53, who is best known for playing receptionist Dawn Tinsley in the hit BBC series, has stage four breast cancer and shared that it had “metastasised” to her bones earlier this month.
Appearing at the For The Love Of Fantasy and Sci-Fi convention at Excel London on Saturday, Davis told the audience the interactions she had most enjoyed during the event.
“It’s like this whole second family you never knew you had, everyone is like a community, friendly, supportive of not only us but you guys and each other. We need a bit more niceness in the world, so I’m grateful,” she said.
Davis was at the convention to speak about the 2004 zombie comedy Shaun Of The Dead, in which she played Dianne.
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After the event, the film’s director Edgar Wright shared a selfie with Davis and actor Simon Pegg on Instagram, captioning it: “What a delight to hang with my old mucker @simonpegg and the always lovely @reallucydavis yesterday at @ftlofantasyscifi.”
During the panel Davis shared stories of filming Shaun Of The Dead, which also included Nick Frost and Dylan Moran in the cast.
When asked for her favourite memories, she said: “Comradery. In terms of actually filming, I loved when we all pretended to be zombies and walked across the square; it was like being naughty school kids.
“Our first week of filming, we were all in the car, Nick was driving, and it was almost like the seven stages of grief in those few days, I’d been sat on Dylan’s lap for so long.
“At one point it all got really quiet and suddenly out of nowhere Bill Nighy went ‘let’s all get into our pyjamas and out of our normal clothes’ and just stopped talking. We all loved it, but couldn’t express it! It was a fun time, we went a bit mad!”
Davis, who needed assistance to reach the stage for the 30-minute appearance, was not asked directly about her health.
When she revealed her diagnosis, the actress said the cancer has metastasised to her spine, right hip and ribs, leaving it “too late” for chemotherapy.
She wrote in a moving statement: “As of now, I’m trying to live out whatever might be left of my life in as fun a way as I possibly can.”
“I’m not scared of whatever comes next. I’m at peace with it,” she added.
Two days later she thanked fans for their support, writing on Instagram that she was “truly in shock” at the attention it received.
She wrote: “Ok, so the last two days have been utterly overwhelming, in that I had zero idea my cancer post would have the attention it did.
“Truly, I am in shock. That said, thank you to everyone for the tremendous amount of kindness and support you have sent me. Good grief it was emotional.”
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