Lucy Davis, the actress best known for playing Dawn Tinsley in The Office, made her first public appearance on Saturday since revealing she has incurable stage four breast cancer.
The 53-year-old, who announced earlier this month that she does not know how long she has left, attended the For the Love of Fantasy & Sci-Fi convention at London's ExCeL, where she reunited with her Shaun of the Dead co-star Simon Pegg and the film's director Edgar Wright.
Speaking to the crowd, Davis described her fans as a "second family" and said she was grateful for the support she had received. "It's like this whole second family you never knew you had. Everyone is like a community, friendly, supportive of us, but you guys and each other. So I'm quite hopeful about that, to be honest," she said. "We need a bit more niceness in the world, and we get it here. So I'm grateful for you guys."
Advice for aspiring actors
Asked what advice she would give to someone trying to break into the film industry, Davis said: "Don't let anyone tell you that you can't do or be anything that you want to do or be. We all grow up just with lies from the world telling us that we all have limitations, and none of us do. Our only limitations are the things that we think are limiting us. You can do anything and be anybody, and don't apologise for it."
Davis was on the panel because of her role as aspiring actress Dianne in the 2004 comedy horror Shaun of the Dead, which follows a group of friends trying to survive a zombie apocalypse. Recalling her favourite memory from filming, she said it was "when we all pretended to be zombies and walked across the square; it was like being naughty schoolkids." She added: "It was a fun time, we went a bit mad."
Response to the diagnosis announcement
Saturday's appearance came 11 days after Davis announced her diagnosis. In an Instagram post last week, she said she had "zero idea" her announcement would receive the attention it did, and that she was still working through the messages she had received. "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," she wrote, thanking fans for their kindness and support. She joked that the few people who had misread the news and commented "R.I.P." would "be delighted to know I am still alive - hurrah!"
She shared the post alongside a video of herself being taught to skateboard by Malachi Barton, her co-star in the 2023 US comedy series The Villains of Valley View, joking that it showed she had "no sporting ability whatsoever."
Health history
Davis has faced a number of health challenges over the years. She received a kidney transplant in 1997, with the organ donated by her mother, Hazel. Eight years later, Davis, who is diabetic, required hospital treatment for kidney failure but made a full recovery. She has also spoken openly about living with bulimia, which was at its worst during her divorce in 2011, five years after she married The Mentalist actor Owain Yeoman.
The cancer diagnosis
In the post announcing her diagnosis, Davis said she had first noticed a "tiny, hard spot" in her breast a year ago and had nearly not had it checked. She said that despite the cancer being declared incurable, she was "at peace with whatever comes next." She shared the news alongside a video of herself ringing a cancer treatment hospital bell, and said she had been told it was too late for her to undergo chemotherapy.
Davis is best known for playing Dawn Tinsley in Ricky Gervais's comedy The Office, and has also appeared in the DC film Wonder Woman and Netflix's Chilling Adventures of Sabrina.
In the post, she wrote: "A year and a half ago I was diagnosed with Stage 4 Breast Cancer, which has metastasised to my bones. Specifically to my spine, right hip, and my ribs. The cancer is incurable, and too late for chemo." She added: "The initial lump that I felt, wasn't a 'lump' as such; rather a kind of hard spot. Really tiny. I almost didn't bother getting it checked. So I guess I'm saying don't ignore anything - get everything checked out."
She said she was "trying to live out whatever might be left of my life in as fun a way as I possibly can," adding that pain could be severe and that she sometimes needed to use a wheelchair. Humour, she said, had been the most important thing in coping, and she had asked friends and family to joke with her rather than treat her "like a sick person," saying: "There's nothing that will make you feel more unwell than being treated as if you're unwell."
Davis said she was not scared of what came next. "I'm at peace with it. I'll see my Gracie sooner than expected, and for me, leaving my physical body just means going home. Any and all grieving is for my family; it's far harder for them than for me," she wrote. Gracie, her dog, died in 2024. She said she planned to continue her work for animal rights and to keep acting, calling it "one of the biggest joys in my life." She closed the post: "For those of you on a similar journey to mine, I do wish you well. Cancer asks a lot from us, physically and mentally. And we all get to do it however we choose. Much love to you all." Many stars left heartfelt messages in response to her original post.
