Hollywood director Steve McQueen reveals prostate cancer diagnosis - which he kept secret from almost everyone

The 55-year-old director revealed he started battling the illness not long before he started filming his new Second World War movie, Blitz. He even delayed filming so he could have surgery to remove a cancerous tumour.

His father died of the very same cancer before he died in November 1980. McQueen had been having regular check-ups - but didn’t tell anyone in the Blitz cast or crew as he didn’t want them to be worrying about it.

In the end, only his wife and close family knew what was really going on.

Speaking to Deadline, McQueen said: “[I] discovered that I had developed this cancer, this tumour, a small tumour, and therefore obviously caught it very, very, early. I delayed the shoot by two weeks and then had the procedure.

“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].

“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 cancer’s gone and that’s down to early detection - it’s a cancer that if you detect early, it’s totally survivable and curable.”