The 60-year-old actor delivered a reading in typically animated fashion at the inaugural Los Angeles Letters Live, which was staged at The Theatre at Ace Hotel, three days after he posted a video online which detailed his cancer diagnosis.
Letters Live started in the UK in 2013 and the event in Los Angeles – which was billed as a celebration of the enduring power of literary correspondence – marked its debut in the US.
Other big-name guests in attendance at The Theatre included the likes of Mark Hamill, Jake Gyllenhaal, Isla Fisher and James Corden.
The British star – who lives in Los Angeles – was also spotted in the city on Saturday (24.02.18) with his husband, Elliot Spencer.
Stephen first announced the news of his diagnosis in a video on his website, revealing he’d had his prostate removed after doctors discovered he had the disease.
The popular actor explained: “Here’s my news I want to share with you: I went to see my doctor just before Christmas for a flu jab because I heard it was going to be a bit bad this year … so I went to my doctor and he said; ‘Well let’s do a check up, a general MOT.’ I have one of these every year so it’s nothing to worry about.
“So aside from my flu jab, I had my blood taken, urine, blood pressure and pulse and tapping here and tapping there. You know, the general procedure, I didn’t think much more of it to be honest with you. Then the next day, he called me up and he said I’m a little worried about your PSA levels … I think a normal level is anything under four nano grams per millilitre and mine was 4.97 nearly. So not very high to be honest with you … I wasn’t too worried to be honest, but Tony said: ‘Maybe you should consider an MRI.’
“So I had the MRI and, again, went home and didn’t think much more of it. And then the next day Tony calls again and he says, ‘Oh Stephen, something rather mischievous has showed up.’
“I was told to have a biopsy … and the next day I get the results and, yes indeed, there is a cancer there.”
Later, he added: “Cancer is just a word that rings in your head … but as far as we know, it’s all been got. But I won’t know for sure until my PSA levels are checked and they should be zero now because I have no prostate.
“But maybe there will be something on the bed of the prostate and that will spread and I’ll need radiotherapy and the whole damn thing will start again. But, for the moment, I’m fit and well and happy.”