On Wednesday, Jan. 14, the actress \u2014 best known for starring in HBO\u2019s Industry \u2014 appeared on an episode of the How To Fail with Elizabeth Day podcast and opened up about being diagnosed with thyroid cancer at age 23.<\/p>\n
Now 29, Abela said that she hoped to be a changed woman after battling cancer and that it would influence how she felt about her body. But she admitted that she\u2019s \u201cstill slightly vain.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNot that I have a particularly terrible relationship with my body or anything, but I’m hard on myself, especially as an actor I have to see myself all the time,\u201d she explained. \u201cMy number one thing now is that I\u2019m healthy and when I think about food it’s about healthy choices, not just skinny choices for once. But it hasn’t quite done enough in the sense that of course I’m still slightly vain and I want to look good.\u201d<\/p>\n
The PEOPLE Puzzler crossword is here! How quickly can you solve it? Play now<\/a>!<\/p>\n \u201cIt’s a difficult one because the thyroid is one of the hormones you need for your metabolism to be working, so it’s been a lot more difficult for me since the illness, and the aftermath of it, to stay fit,\u201d she continued. \u201cAt the beginning I was like, \u2018I\u2019m going to have peace with my body now,\u2019 and what’s difficult is that now I have to work harder to maintain a healthy physique.\u201d<\/p>\n She added, \u201cYou want to be a sort of perfect person afterwards and it\u2019s so stupid, you know, as if!\u201d<\/p>\n Abela also shared that she thought cancer would turn her into a \u201csaint\u201d who is \u201cso much wiser\u201d and grateful for her body, but that wasn\u2019t the case. The actress said maybe it was because she didn\u2019t have a \u201cslightly closer brush with mortality.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt was bleak, but it’s everything else that comes with it,\u201d she said on the show. \u201cI was thinking about, \u2018Will I be able to be an actor, will I be able to speak, will anyone employ me with a big scar on my neck?\u2019 You have all these vanity things.\u201d<\/p>\n Jamie McCarthy\/Getty<\/p>\n Marisa Abela<\/p>\n Never miss a story \u2014 sign up for PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter<\/a> to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer\u200b\u200b, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.\u00a0<\/p>\n Abela was diagnosed with thyroid cancer in 2020 after a doctor discovered a lump on her neck while she was experiencing unusual fatigue, she said in a Jan. 3 interview with The Times<\/a>.<\/p>\n She underwent an eight-hour surgery to remove the tumor, followed by radioactive iodine treatment.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m all in the clear now, thank God,\u201d she told the outlet, adding that she still attends regular medical checkups and will remain on medication for the rest of her life.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t have a working thyroid so these pills sort of create one,\u201d Abela explained. \u201cI\u2019m never going to miss those appointments.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"Jamie](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/c7edadc195d0da74e0841502ff75d693.jpeg\"\/)
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