'Hannah Montana made me want to be an actress - bone cancer didn't stop me chasing my dreams on the Birmingham stage'

Crystal Marshall, 28, from Birmingham, always knew she wanted to be an actress - from the moment she saw Miley Cyrus take on the role as Hannah Montana on Disney Channel.

But in April 2016, aged just 18, her dreams were put on hold when she was diagnosed with osteosarcoma (bone cancer) in her upper right jaw. 

What followed was months of gruelling chemotherapy treatments and surgery - which saved her life but completely changed her face. 

"I finished chemotherapy on January 2017, and then had my operation at UCLH, which involved having to remove a large portion of my right cheek, where the tumour was, a portion of my right lip and my entire upper jaw, apart from two upper back teeth on the left-hand side of my face," she said to Bone Cancer Research Trust.

"I had to stay in hospital for the longest two weeks of my life and in London for a whole month. In a city, I had no knowledge of and with a face that looked worse than I originally started."

Surgeons told her there were no traces of cancer left in the summer of 2027 but she had to continue having surgeries to reconstruct her face. She was left feeling an overwhelming lack of confidence due to the change in her appearance and she would isolate herself to avoid stares from strangers. 

But a year later, she decided she's had enough of being "stuck in the house, not wanting to talk or interact with anybody" and decided she wanted to go back to living her life and finding happiness again. She even decided to chase her childhood dreams, going to drama school to become an actress.

Now, she is taking to the stage and aiming change the way people with facial differences are treated in the industry. Crystal told the Express & Star: "I have wanted to perform ever since I saw Miley Cyrus as Hannah Montana in a blonde wig rocking it up on that stage! Since I was eight years old I knew its something I wanted to do - to bring that joy and entertainment to others. 

"In 2016, I was diagnosed with cancer that halted my acting career for a while. A couple of years later, I attended LAMDA drama school in London and I have not looked back since. 

"My career as an actress with a facial difference has its difficulty, but rewarding to promote facial equality/awareness for those who look facially different within the industry."

Crystal is set to take to the stage in the Les-Be Honest Musical coming to the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire next week as two characters - Tonk and Robin. Speaking about the roles, she said: ""Twonk and Robin, have some similarities but uniqueness about each of them. 

"Twonk, is eager to please and wants to see Rose and Lani have an epic love story ending whilst Robin loves the drama and thrives on gossip. Both have similar energies i am excited for people to see. I initially auditioned for the role of Lani, because I loved the script and found the song lyrics to be truthful, heartfelt and real. 

"I am so grateful to still be involved as I feel its a modern love story people will relate to, and everyone is so lovely in the cast it's a great project to work on!"

Les-Be-Honest: A Choose-Your-Own-Adventure Musical comes to LAB at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire from March 24–26, with performances at 7.30pm.

For updates, follow @lesbehonest_musical on Instagram.