Stanley Tucci is keeping it brutally honest.
The actor, 64, is getting candid on the aftermath of undergoing cancer treatments. Tucci, who is now in remission, was originally diagnosed with throat cancer in 2017 after a tumor was discovered at the base of his tongue.
At the time, the “Conclave” star did radiation and chemotherapy; however, he’s still feeling the effects of those treatments.
“I would be so tired in the afternoon, like completely exhausted by one o’clock,” Tucci said about filming his food and travel series, “Searching For Italy,” while on the Tuesday episode of David Tennant’s podcast. “I was like, ‘Something’s wrong with me.’ Finally, I had a blood test and I was like, ‘I know something’s f – – king wrong with me.’ And my thyroid was nonfunctioning.”
The thyroid is a gland located in the front of the neck that creates and releases hormones and controls metabolism.
Tucci said he thought it was nonfunctioning due to stress, but his doctors felt otherwise after realizing his cholesterol levels were high.
“What happened was because I had radiation six, seven years ago, it burned out my thyroid,” he explained, adding that his oncologist said this is a side effect that “sometimes” appears after the fact.
But finding out it wasn’t some “hideous” new diagnosis gave Tucci relief.
Although the actor’s health is not functioning at 100% yet, he takes medication that has helped him feel a bit better.
“I still get tired in the afternoon,” confessed Tucci. “Literally, you can’t think, you can’t move … and once I started taking the pill, it made a huge difference. But I want to get back to where I was.”
“The Devil Wears Prada” alum added, “It is normal and especially now I’ve just turned 64. I mean, there are times when I don’t want to do f – – king anything.”
Tucci shares twins Isabel and Nicolo, both 25, and Camilla, 21, with late wife Kate Tucci. He is also a dad to Matteo, 10, and Emilia, 6, with wife Felicity Blunt.
Tucci previously spoke about being diagnosed with the disease after losing Kate to cancer in 2009.
“It was too big to operate, so they had to do high-dose radiation and chemo,” he told Variety in 2021 of his tumor, explaining, “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.”
“The kids were great, but it was hard for them,” Tucci reflected. “I had a feeding tube for six months. I could barely make it to the twins’ high school graduation.”
Luckily, his type of cancer is unlikely to come back.
“[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,” Tucci shared.
