• iconNews
  • videos
  • entertainment
  • Home
  • News
    • UK News
    • US News
    • Australia
    • Ireland
    • World News
    • Weird News
    • Viral News
    • Sport
    • Technology
    • Science
    • True Crime
    • Travel
  • Entertainment
    • Celebrity
    • TV & Film
    • Netflix
    • Music
    • Gaming
    • TikTok
  • LAD Originals
    • Say Maaate to a Mate
    • Daily Ladness
    • Lad Files
    • UOKM8?
    • FreeToBe
    • Extinct
    • Citizen Reef
  • Advertise
  • Terms
  • Privacy & Cookies
  • LADbible Group
  • UNILAD
  • SPORTbible
  • GAMINGbible
  • Tyla
  • UNILAD Tech
  • FOODbible
  • License Our Content
  • About Us & Contact
  • Jobs
  • Latest
  • Topics A-Z
  • Authors
Facebook
Instagram
X
Threads
Snapchat
TikTok
YouTube

LAD Entertainment

YouTube

LAD Stories

Submit Your Content
Star of new Netflix series The Queen Cleopatra warned he could die ahead of brain tumour surgery

Home> Entertainment

Updated 07:30 16 May 2023 GMT+1Published 07:29 16 May 2023 GMT+1

Star of new Netflix series The Queen Cleopatra warned he could die ahead of brain tumour surgery

Craig Russell plays Marc Antony in the controversial new Netflix series

Emily Brown

Emily Brown

One of the stars of the new Netflix show The Queen Cleopatra has opened up about being diagnosed with a brain tumour after filming wrapped on the controversial new series.

Welsh actor Craig Russell took on the role of Marc Antony as he joined star Adele James in the series, which has sparked backlash for its portrayal of Cleopatra as a Black woman.

Russell was feeling fit and healthy during production, but towards the end of last year he began to exhibit behaviour that was out of character.

Advert

His vision and hearing were getting worse, and he was suffering severe migraines.

“Just before Christmas, I walked into the spare room and I couldn’t ­remember how to get out,” Craig recalled to The Mirror. "There was only one door, it wasn’t as if I had multiple exits to choose from."

The actor went to the doctor and was told he was going blind in his left eye. He was sent for a CT scan, which revealed a mass in his brain.

Doctors believed the tumour, which was the size of a lime, had been growing for 15 years and it needed to be removed immediately.

Craig Russell remained optimistic after his diagnosis.
Twitter/@russandchips

Advert

“I got a call to say: ‘We need to get this out ASAP’,” Craig said. “It was totally unexpected. I was very teary when I told my wife, Kate – and that they didn’t know if it was cancerous or not.

"But she was amazing, saying, ‘we will win this’.

“I was warned I could die during the procedure because it was so ­complicated. But if it wasn’t removed, it could cause seizures and strokes," he added.

Craig feared the risks, but 'had to do it' for his wife and two children.

He underwent the surgery in March, two months before The Queen Cleopatra arrived on Netflix.

Advert

Surgeons spent six hours removing the back of Craig’s skull which had been 'touching the tumour', before putting his head back together with 55 staples.

After he woke up Craig learned the tumour had been benign, but he had to return to hospital when his wife noticed there was fluid coming from behind his staples.

"The doctors realised there was a large swelling on my head. Fluids had started to build up inside," he said.

Craig Russell played Marc Antony in the Netflix series.
Netflix

Craig was told to move around as much as possible, so he stared going on daily walks, lifting weights and eating anti-inflammatory foods.

Advert

"It worked, because when I returned, my surgeon told me the swelling had gone," he recalled. "I was over the moon.”

Two months on from the surgery, Craig has started to feel more like himself.

He will still need to undergo an MRI scan every six months for the next decade, but he's grateful for all the support he received throughout the ordeal.

"I am so pleased I was feeling fine during the making of Queen Cleopatra," the actor said. "Playing Marc Antony was amazing, he’s an incredible character.

“I am so grateful my GP sent me for a brain scan. If she hadn’t, I might not be here now – I could have had a seizure while driving the children to school. It doesn’t bear thinking about.”

Featured Image Credit: Twitter/@russandchips / Netflix

Topics: TV and Film, Netflix, Health

Emily Brown
Emily Brown

Emily Brown is the Community Desk Lead at LADbible Group. Emily first began delivering news when she was just 11 years old - with a paper route. She went on to graduate with a BA Hons in English Language in the Media from Lancaster University before contributing to The Sunday Times Travel Magazine and Student Problems. She joined UNILAD in 2018 to cover breaking news, trending stories and longer form features, and now works as Community Desk Lead to commission and write human interest stories from across the globe.

Advert

Advert

Advert

Choose your content:

13 hours ago
16 hours ago
18 hours ago
a day ago
  • 13 hours ago

    Emma Watson was left ‘violated’ after what photographers did to her on her 18th birthday

    The actor was a victim of the practice before it became a crime in England and Wales

    Entertainment
  • 16 hours ago

    Film fans are urging people to watch dystopian thriller that becomes ‘more relevant every year’

    It's been nearly two decades since the film was released

    Entertainment
  • 18 hours ago

    Johnny Depp explains why he took Amber Heard to trial in rare interview

    He reckons he's a 'crash test dummy' for the MeToo movement

    Entertainment
  • a day ago

    Machine Gun Kelly speaks out for first time about relationship with Megan Fox since having daughter

    Actress Megan Fox and musician MGK are 'co-parenting' their baby daughter after being in an on-and-off relationship for four years

    Entertainment
  • Netflix viewers say Titan submersible doc leaves out key incident ahead of fatal implosion
  • Netflix viewers rave about mystery mini-series with perfect Rotten Tomatoes score watched for 26,000,000 hours
  • Netflix adds 'lost gem' Tom Cruise movie that saw two people die in plane crash on set
  • Netflix adds gritty mini-series starring Game of Thrones legend that fans are demanding gets a second season