What Colin Egglesfield Learned from Beating Cancer Three Different Times

In an exclusive interview with TooFab, the All My Children actor described the moment he found out he was cancer-free for a third time, something he revealed earlier this year. His most recent diagnosis was prostate cancer, following previous battles with testicular cancer in 2006 and 2007.

“I think it’s more of a measured relief, having now been diagnosed three times with cancer,” he expressed. “When I wen to the hospital and the doctor told me that [I was cancer-free], I got emotional. I broke down and I was just like I just hope that I can be at least be healthy a bit longer.”

“I want to get married, I want to have kids and I still have dreams and goals that I want to do,” he continued, before sharing whether there’s anything he’s made a priority following the great news.

“After being diagnosed with cancer, I felt like I had this urgency of doing everything I ever wanted to do because I was afraid I wasn’t gonna be around for much longer and so I had this almost anxiety about like, ‘Well, I want to do this and I have to do this, I wanted to travel here,'” he shared. “And I feel like I got into this place of saying yes to as much as I could and that got me to a place where I feel like I was like, ‘I need to slow down here,’ because I think we can spread ourselves too thin if we try to do too much.”

He admitted that he still struggles with setting boundaries when wanting to take advantage of everything that comes his way, telling people to “focus on one or two things that really inspire you” and “learn to say, ‘No,’ a lot of the times too.”

“I still like to say yes to everything. My friends and my family, my team have to constantly remind me and be like, ‘Okay, Colin, hold on let’s prioritize here,'” he added with a laugh. “I am pretty ambitious so it’s important to remember to create balance.”

When Egglesfield was diagnosed with testicular cancer in 2006, it was shortly after he joined the daytime soap. He told TooFab he felt the immense support from his co-stars and director, despite having a hard time initially sharing what he was going through.

“I tried to hide it from everyone because I didn’t want anyone to know that I was going through cancer because it was testicular cancer … it’s guy’s stuff, it was kind of private,” he explained. “I was afraid of, ‘What if my producers find out that I’ve got cancer, that I’m sick, am I gonna get fired?’ and there was a lot of unknowns.”

“I was on set with my radiation treatment, I was feeling sick and my director came up to me and he asked me if I was alright. I broke down because I realized I was afraid and scared and I realized I couldn’t do this alone anymore,” he continued.

“After, everyone on set, my actor friends and the other producers, and the makeup artists, and the wardrobe people, they all just showed up,” he recalled. “And every time I would walk down the hall, they would just come up and give me a hug or just tell me, ‘Hey, anytime you need me to go to your doctor’s appointments with you, let me know.'”

Aside from his All My Children cast, TooFab also asked if anyone from his iconic romantic comedy, Something Borrowed reached out to him during his most recent cancer journey.

“Not from Something Borrowed, but quite a few people from different projects and work that I’ve done, some people from high school that I haven’t talked to in 30 years,” he said. “Distant relatives that I didn’t know that I had or sort of knew that I had from Ireland and different places, just the outpouring of support has been incredible.”

Egglesfield also expressed his for the City of Hope hospital in Phoenix, where he was most recently treated. He highlighted the hospital’s “Cancer Fighters” program, a support group he checks in with over Zoom and which uses Egglesfield’s 90-day manifestation journal, “Agile Artist, 90 Manifestation playbook.”

“I think it’s really important that whenever you do know of someone who is going through something, a little text message or a phone call really goes a long way to let people know that they’re not alone,” he added of offering support to those in need, adding it was something he learned “the first time on All My Children.”

Before his 2023 diagnosis, Egglesfield said he started to feel a bigger calling in his life — something which led to a move from away from Los Angeles.

“In 2018, I got to a place in Los Angeles where I’d done all these amazing jobs and had fulfilled on my dream of working on some of the biggest projects out there. But I still felt like I had more to offer in terms of making an impact on other people’s lives,” he shared.

“I felt like even though I was walking the red carpets and working on all these amazing TV shows and movies and traveling the world, I got to a place in my life where I felt like, okay, I think I’m ready for making more of a difference in other people’s lives, not just fulfilling on my goals and my dreams.”

He said he felt “stuck” at a point in his career and struggled with the shift toward streaming.

“The business was changing with Netflix and Amazon and the amount of money that actors get paid and residuals,” he said. “That was all changing to the point where I started to realize too, that from a career perspective, I needed to do something outside of acting because the writing was on the wall in terms of the amount of money that actors get paid for all the projects that we do.”

Egglesfield found himself needing to go back to his roots in Chicago, stepping away from Hollywood to spend time with family. He added, however, “I still love acting, it’s still my passion. It’s still one of my favorite things to do.”

He’s now a health and wellness coach and holds meditation sessions every month, where he invites others to reflect on their own lives. Through that work, he’s also found many opportunities to keep acting a part of his life and has even dipped his feet into producing.

“Through that, I’ve met movie producers and directors. And by the process of creating these projects, I’ve realized that it’s very similar to producing movies,” he said. “Through this process, produced my first film that came out last August called Duchess. I’m working on like three different projects with two different screenwriters. And I’m just in this place where what I’ve realized is the more that you can help other people with what they need, the more valuable you become.”

Read his book, “Agile Artist,” to know more about his early career and cancer experience.