Dame Julie Walters sparks health concerns as legendary actress pulls out of new drama Truelove - five years after bowel cancer diagnosis
It was the script that tempted her out of retirement.
But now concerns have been raised over Dame Julie Walters' health as it was revealed she has pulled out of Channel 4 drama Truelove.
The actress, 73, who was previously diagnosed with advanced bowel cancer in 2018, has been replaced by Lindsay Duncan, months after filming was halted over her severe back pain.
Creators Charlie Covell and Iain Weatherby said they had been left 'saddened' by her departure.
In a statement, producer Clerkenwell Films said: 'Last year, filming on Truelove was paused while Julie Walters sought medical advice and attention for severe back pain.
Health woes: Concerns have been raised over Dame Julie Walters' health as it was revealed she has pulled out of Channel 4 drama Truelove
'Subsequently, Julie has decided to step back from the project to focus on her recovery and recuperation, and so will not be returning to the role of Phil.
'We wholeheartedly support her decision, and the entire cast, crew and production team wish her the very best and a speedy recovery.' They said they are 'delighted' to welcome Ms Duncan to play the 'complex and captivating' Phil.
Exclusive images obtained by the Mail in June last year, showed the actress helping her co-star Karl Johnson's character Tom to end his life on a boat on Clevedon Marine Lake in North Somerset.
The pair were seen kissing before Clarke Peters put a blue plastic bag over Johnson's head.
Truelove, which follows three retired friends who reunite and make a pact to engineer a dignified death, would have marked Dame Julie's first major TV project in six years following her all clear from cancer.
'I had basically withdrawn from acting... but then I read Truelove,' she said.
'I was bowled over by the writing - the dark humour, the love story and thriller element set against a backdrop of what happens to us all as we approach our later years.'
The acting veteran, famed for roles in Harry Potter, Educating Rita and the Mamma Mia! franchise, opened up about her shock cancer diagnosis in 2020.
Filming: Before her exit from her role, Julie starred as Phil, a retired police chief - her first major TV project for six years (pictured in May 2022)
Role: The actress, 73, who was previously diagnosed with advanced bowel cancer in 2018, has been replaced by Lindsay Duncan (pictured in October), months after filming was halted over her severe back pain
Speaking on Victoria Derbyshire's BBC2 show, Dame Julie said she thought doctors had made a mistake when they told her as she had only visited her GP for indigestion and a 'slight discomfort'.
A CT scan and a colonoscopy found two primary tumours in her large intestine. She was told she had stage three cancer as it had spread to nearby lymph nodes.
She had a 12in section of her colon removed and was given a course of chemotherapy tablets.
Dame Julie was filming The Secret Garden when she was diagnosed, with a body double used in some scenes to replace her.
She kept the diagnosis a secret by blaming her absence on a ruptured hernia.
She said she felt 'like a different person' after recovering and receiving the all-clear in February 2020.
In October 2020, Julie revealed her plans to give up acting, believing the stress of it 'caused her cancer.
She told how that finding out she was ill strangely came as a 'huge relief' because it meant she could stop working.
Statement: 'Last year, filming on Truelove was paused while Julie Walters sought medical advice and attention for severe back pain. Subsequently, Julie has decided to step back from the project to focus on her recovery and recuperation'
Comeback: Truelove, which follows three retired friends who reunite and make a pact to engineer a dignified death, would have marked Dame Julie's first major TV project in six years following her all clear from cancer
Speaking to The Times' Saturday Review, Birmingham-born Walters admitted: 'Part of me was going, "Oh my God! I've got cancer! Oh my God!" And I'm dealing with the shock of that, and it's all systems go to have it treated.
'But there was also an element of going, "I don't have to do any more work. I can actually get off this treadmill." Because I had been working really hard and it seemed like a big excuse not to do anything. Cancer trumps everything. So there was a huge relief in it, which is strange. But I needed something to stop me.'
When asked by her oncologist what she thought had caused the cancer, she revealed the first thing that came to her mind was her job.
'Acting caused it,' Walters said. 'Because of the way that I approach it. I have to be totally in it. Everything has to be just so.
'It's very stressful. You're immediately above the parapet. You're being judged. It's a stressful job and I don't sleep when I'm working. It's not good for me.'
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