Filmmaker Steve McQueen revealed he was diagnosed with prostate cancer two years ago. During a routine checkup while working on his latest project, Blitz, doctors discovered a small tumor on his prostate.
McQueen, known for directing 12 Years a Slave, underwent surgery to remove the tumor and is now “fully recovered and fully functional.” He briefly delayed the production by two weeks to have the procedure.
The Academy Award-winning director, 55, explained in order not to “concern” the Blitz cast and crew, he kept his diagnosis a secret. “I was just doing stuff in bed on the computer — working, emailing, and whatever,” he said, adding that he “kept it private at that stage.”
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Following his recovery, he returned to set because he “really just wanted to get on with the job.” Adding, “And that’s kind of like who I am. I’m a ‘get on with it’ kind of person.”
McQueen, whose father died of prostate cancer in 2006, launched a new campaign for Prostate Cancer Research.
Citing his family history and personal diagnosis, he is urging other men, particularly Black men, to undergo early cancer screenings.
“In some ways, you could say my dad saved my life because, unfortunately, he died of it,” he told Deadline.
“I knew that if it did come my way if I did get it, it could be dealt with in an extremely effective way, and that’s the end of it,” he said. Noting that other men “are being left to their own devices to navigate this on their own.”
Prostate cancer is the second-most common cancer among American men, with over one in eight diagnosed, according to the American Cancer Society.
For Black men, the rate is even higher at one in six. Black men are also twice as likely to die from prostate cancer compared to White men, as reported by CNN.
“One in 12 Black men will die of prostate cancer,” McQueen said. “So for me, it was about preempting it. The fact that I was preempting the situation for years was, again, my savior in that way. So, just preempt it and get it early.”
“The tragedy of this is no one has to die of it,” McQueen added. “That’s the tragedy.”
He has extended his activism to filmmaking. In 2021, he released a short film titled Embarrassed to raise awareness about prostate cancer in the Black community, featuring stars like Idris Elba and Morgan Freeman.
McQueen has also created a new short film for the Proactive for Your Prostate campaign, featuring David Harewood.
