Postlethwaite was diagnosed with testicular cancer in 1990, and had his right testicle removed. He was a smoker from the age of ten until his death. In a March 2009 interview with "Scotland on Sunday", the actor referred to his smoking habit, stating: "We've got to hope the next generation will do things differently. I'm sure that in 20 years' time the kids will say: 'Can you believe that people actually used to smoke – put these funny little things in their mouths, lit them and sucked all that crap into their lungs?"