Sheridan Smith admits losing her brother to cancer made her "value life".
The 33-year-old actress’ brother passed away aged 18 after losing his battle with the disease and while she tries not to "dwell" on the tragedy, she admits it did affect her attitude towards her own life.
Speaking about portraying cancer victim Lisa Lynch in the upcoming BBC One drama ‘The C-Word’, she said: "Of course I’ve been affected by my brother’s death, but it’s not something I’d want to dwell on now. Because this project isn’t about me. It’s all about Lisa, and I wouldn’t like to lose that focus.
"It’s true, though, that losing someone to cancer really resets your perspective. It makes me value life, cherish my loved ones and be grateful for every day I have with them."
The ‘Cilla’ star shaved off her long blonde locks to play Lisa in the aftermath of chemotherapy and insists she didn’t hesitate about going ahead with it because it wasn’t a "big deal".
Sheridan told Radio Times magazine: "I was always going to do it. I don’t have cancer so it’s really not a big deal. And the least I could do was show Lisa’s experience as truthfully as possible."
The ‘Mrs. Biggs’ actress – who was asked by Lisa herself to play her before she died – went on to explain how she prepared for the role without making it feel like "work".
She added: "I met with Lisa’s wonderful husband Peter and her brother Jamie. We went for lunch and they gave me little things that made me feel closer to her, like her notepad and the medal she got for doing a cancer walk.
"And of course I had her voice in my head from her blog and our private conversations, and millions of photos, but I didn’t want to watch her on video too much. Because it wasn’t an impersonation and it wasn’t even like doing ‘Cilla’, where I had months and months of research, watching DVDs and old footage.
"Because I didn’t know Cilla – I just had to watch her and note her mannerisms – and somehow I didn’t want to do that with Lisa. Because with Lisa, it never felt, and I never wanted it to feel, like work."
Sheridan Smith: Losing my brother made me ‘value life’
