Dame Julie Walters has revealed she battled bowel cancer for 18 months in secret.
The much-loved actress, 69, had surgery and chemotherapy following her diagnosis with stage three bowel cancer 18 months ago.
The actress, who stars in Educating Rita and Mama Mia, has since been given the all clear.
Dame Julie told BBC's Victoria Derbyshire that tests found two primary tumours in her large intestine.
After being given the diagnosis, Julie said she was so shocked she thought that the doctors "must have made a mistake".
Julie said: "I was still thinking, 'That's ridiculous, he must have made a mistake'. I couldn't believe it."
She initially went to her GP with symptoms including indigestion and "slight discomfort", later returning with stomach pain, heartburn and vomiting.
Other symptoms of bowel cancer are a persistent change in bowel habit, abdominal pain, blood in the stools and discomfort or bloating always brought on by eating.
Speaking about the moment she broke news to her husband Grant Roffey, Julie said: "I'll never forget his face. Tears came to his eyes."
After tests, doctors found two primary tumours in Julie’s large intestine, and she had an operation to take 30cm from her colon.
Julie admitted that while she waited for surgery she feared she “may not come round from the anaesthetic”.
But instead she explained that she came round from the anaesthetic “feeling absolutely marvellous”.
She said she now feels “really well” adding: "I've just had a scan, and I know I’m clear."
The diagnosis meant she had to be cut from certain scenes in her upcoming movie The Secret Garden and she also missed the premiere of Mamma Mia 2.
Asked if she thought The Secret Garden could be her last film, she said: "It would have to be something I'm really engaged with.
"I'm not saying I'll never act again. But I certainly don't think I can go back to six days a week, five in the morning till seven o'clock at night."
