Devil Wears Prada star, Stanley Tucci, reveals secret cancer battle

Tucci, 60, revealed that doctors discovered a tumour at the base of his tongue, which was unfortunately too big to have removed via surgery. Photo / Getty Images

Stanley Tucci, beloved character actor who has won hearts in films as varied as The Devil Wears Prada and The Hunger Games, has revealed details of the cancer battle he underwent in secret three years ago.

The 60-year-old actor has revealed he was diagnosed with cancer in 2018. Doctors discovered a tumour at the base of Tucci's tongue, which was unfortunately too big to have removed via surgery.

While speaking to Virgin Atlantic's inflight magazine Vera, he was quoted as saying: "It was too big to operate, so they had to do high-dose radiation and chemo."

The Supernova star admitted he didn't want to endure the intense treatments at first, after seeing how "horrible" it was for his first wife, Kate Tucci, who died following a breast cancer battle in 2009, at the age of 47

He added: "I'd vowed I'd never do anything like that, because my first wife died of cancer, and to watch her go through those treatments for years was horrible."

Stanley also told Vera magazine his cancer is now in remission and is unlikely to return, although it has still taken its toll on his body.

Stanley Tucci (R) has two children - Matteo, six, and Emilia, three - with his second wife Felicity Blunt (L). Photo / Getty Images

He said: "[Cancer] makes you more afraid and less afraid at the same time. I feel much older than I did before I was sick. But you still want to get ahead and get things done."

Meanwhile, the Hunger Games star said earlier this year he has never stopped mourning for Kate – with whom he has twins Isabel and Nicolo, 21, and 19-year-old Camilla – and admitted it will "always be hard" for the kids and himself to live without her.

Stanley – who also has Matteo, 6, and Emilia, 3, with second wife Felicity Blunt – said: "You never stop grieving.

"It's still hard after 11 years. It's still hard. And it will always be hard. But you can't let it … and she would never want any of us to ever wallow in that grief and let it take over our lives. She would never want that. She wasn't like that."