Devil Wears Prada star Stanley Tucci opens up about recovering from cancer while on set

Stanley Tucci underwent chemotherapy and radiation therapy after doctors discovered a tumour under his tongue. Photo / Getty Images

Stanley Tucci found everything tasted of wet cardboard "slathered with someone's excrement" when he was undergoing cancer treatment.

The 60-year-old actor recently explained he underwent chemotherapy and radiation therapy three years ago after doctors discovered a tumour at the base of his tongue, and he's now told of how the "horrible" processes caused him to lose his appetite, as well as develop vertigo and multiple ulcers in his mouth.

And Stanley admitted he feared losing his sense of taste more than he was worried about death.

He said: "I mean, if you can't eat and enjoy food, how are you going to enjoy everything else?"

Although the "Devil Wears Prada" star's ability to taste returned after he finished treatment, he was still struggling with the effects when he made his critically-acclaimed CNN food show "Stanley Tucci: Searching for Italy".

He told the New York Times newspaper: "It was hard because I could taste everything, but I couldn't necessarily swallow."

And he recalled how he struggled while eating the traditional Tuscan dish steak florentina for the show.

Stanley Tucci underwent chemotherapy and radiation therapy after doctors discovered a tumour under his tongue. Photo / Getty Images

He admitted: "I had to chew it for 10 minutes to get it down my throat.

"[Other times] I just had to get rid of the food."

But Stanley insisted he didn't hesitate to continue with making the show.

He said: "There was no way I wasn't going to make it. I've wanted to tell for a long time the story of Italy and the disparate cuisine in every region."

Asked if it was to get normality back to his life, he said: "Yeah, I suppose so."

During his treatment, the "Supernova" actor liked to "live vicariously" through watching cooking shows.

He admitted: "[It] was weird because even the smell of food then would just make me want to throw up.

"But I liked watching them. I just wanted to learn more, live vicariously through them. It was a way I was going to have that once again."