Kelly Preston didn’t tell anyone on her final film she had cancer.
Kelly Preston
The 57-year-old actress died of breast cancer last summer but her co-stars in ‘Off the Rails’ – which follows three friends in their 50s and the teenage daughter of a late pal repeating a European trip they took when they were 18 – had no idea there was anything wrong during filming.
Co-star Sally Phillips said: “When we made the film in 2019, Kelly had stage three breast cancer.
"We had no idea she was ill.
“No one knew, except Bill Kenwright, our executive producer. Kelly kept it quiet.
“I think this is standard practice in the US, due to insurance issues, plus TV and filmmakers over there seem to think you won’t be capable of doing the job if you have cancer.”
Sally recalled Kelly being a positive force on set.
She added to Yours magazine: “Kelly was ore than capable. She had so much energy on set and was a bit like a mum to us. She kept our spirits up and was always laughing and joking.”
The cast and crew found out about the actress’ illness during post-production work on the film and at that point, Kelly was “too ill” to do anything else.
Sally said: “It was a massive shock.
“By then Kelly was too ill to do anything. It was pre-Covid and I desperately wanted to see her but when someone is that ill they need to be with their family.
“We did have some really interesting chats away from set.
“My eldest son, Ollie, has Down’s syndrome, while Kelly and John [Travolta]’s son Jett, who died in 2009 aged 16 from a seizure, was on the autistic spectrum and had learning difficulties. Jett was still very present for her.”
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