Ben Stiller has revealed to the world that he was diagnosed with prostate cancer two years ago.
Speaking to Howard Stern in an interview, the actor confessed he had been battling with the illness in private.
“It came out of the blue for me. I had no idea,” Ben explained. “At first, I didn’t know what was gonna happen. I was scared.
“It just stops everything in your life because you can’t plan for a movie because you don’t know what’s gonna happen.”
Ben and his wife Christine went through the heartache that comes with a cancer diagnosis.
Ben, who is married to actress Christine Taylor, revealed that the reason he has decided to go public with his battle is to raise awareness of a test for prostate cancer.
“I wanted to talk about it because of the [PSA] test … I feel like the test saved my life.”
The particular test he refers to involves a simple blood test used to screen males for the PSA antigen associated with prostate cancer.
Ben in one of his more famous roles as Zoolander with co-star Owen Wilson.
“It’s the second most deadly cancer, but it’s about one of the most curable,” Ben explained.
Once the Zoolander actor was diagnosed, he decided to have surgery to remove his prostate, a move that ultimately saw him survive the diagnosis.
The actor went on to reveal that he sought advice from a former co-star who had also fought the disease.
Robert De Niro also fought prostate cancer, but chose to reveal it to the public.
“The first thing I did when I got diagnosed was get on the internet to try to learn. I saw De Niro had had it. I called him right away,” he explained.
And in true relaxed Ben Stiller style, he revealed the chilled out way that he broke the news to his children Ella, 14 and Quinlin, 11.
“I told them I had something to deal with,” he said. “They were cool with it.”
He says he now takes a PSA test every six months to make sure that he remains clear and free of the disease.
Relive Ben and Owen Wilson’s epic Zoolander 2 Paris Fashion Week moment in the clip below.
