Sheridan Smith was reminded of her brother’s battle with cancer while making ‘The C Word’.
The ‘Cilla’ actress plays cancer victim Lisa Lynch in the new BBC drama and admits a scene where she had to be carried out of a bath brought back memories of her brother Julian, who died of cancer aged 18 when she was just eight-years-old.
She said: "We weren’t sure whether to put it in until the last minute because Lisa was so upbeat and light. But you have got to show it for real.
"I remember Mum and Dad carrying Julian up and down to the bath. So it is very real. You have to show that."
Lisa began writing a blog of her battle with cancer after being diagnosed in 2008, leading to her book ‘The C Word’ being published in 2010.
However, after asking Sheridan to portray her in the upcoming 90-minute TV film, Lisa’s cancer returned and she died in 2013.
Speaking about being asked to take on the role, Sheridan – who hopes to inspire women to get tested – told the Daily Mirror newspaper: "She [Lisa] went, ‘Only you can play me’, and I have saved that text. I think maybe she saw something in me I don’t see in myself.
"Everyone loved her and obviously we had a different ending originally. It ended with her making her book.
"I thought, what an honour I have to play her. But I am so pleased I did it and if it makes one girl check her boobs and carry on her legacy I will be happy."
The blonde beauty also confessed she felt as though she needed therapy for real after Lisa’s death.
She added: "It was the therapy scenes I found the hardest. When I first read the script it was a different happy ending.
"So to then go back and do therapy sessions [just before she died].
"Maybe I needed therapy? I’ve said it. It was cathartic."
Sheridan Smith was reminded of her brother’s cancer battle
