The actress Lucy Davis, who portrayed the unfulfilled receptionist Dawn Tinsley in the British version of “The Office,” announced that she has Stage 4 breast cancer.
The cancer has metastasized to her bones, spine, right hip and ribs, Davis, 53, said in a statement on Instagram on Tuesday, adding that the cancer was “incurable, and too late for chemo.”
The British version of “The Office,” which ran from 2001 to 2003, drew millions of viewers. The show was created by the comedians Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant, and inspired a U.S. version that debuted on NBC in 2005.
Davis’s character was notoriously unsatisfied in her career and romantic life. An office receptionist with an artistic streak, Dawn is engaged to one man while falling for another.
Since acting in “The Office,” Davis has appeared in dozens of shows and films, including “Chilling Adventures of Sabrina” and “The Villains of Valley View.”
Davis said she was diagnosed a year and a half ago, after detecting “a kind of hard spot” that she nearly did not see a doctor about. “I guess I’m saying,” she wrote on Instagram, “don’t ignore anything — get everything checked out.”
She went on: “As of now, I’m trying to live out whatever might be left of my life in as fun a way as I possibly can. I always like to find the teachable moments in anything negative that happens. And cancer has not disappointed in that regard; there’s a lot I have learned from it, and I’m grateful for that.”
She added that she hoped to keep acting. “I’m perfectly able to do so,” she said, “and acting is one of the biggest joys in my life.”
Davis’s social media post has received millions of views and thousands of supportive comments. Jenna Fischer, who played Pam Beesly, the American version of Dawn Tinsley, commended Davis for her desire to keep acting. “Yes to working with cancer!” Fischer commented. “Let’s spread that message far and wide! How working is such a comfort!”
Gervais responded to Davis’s post by marking it with a red heart emoji.
In her post, Davis asked her friends and family to make fun of her as often as possible.
“There’s nothing that will make you feel more unwell than being treated as if you’re unwell,” she said. “I’m not scared of whatever comes next. I’m at peace with it.”
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