Actress Lucy Davis has told fans she is “grateful” for their support as she made an appearance at a London sci-fi convention, following the recent revelation she has incurable breast cancer.

The 53-year-old star was appearing at the For The Love of Fantasy & Sci-Fi convention at Excel London on Saturday, less than two weeks after announcing her diagnosis in a post on Instagram.

Davis, who was on a panel to talk about her role in the 2004 zombie-comedy Shaun of the Dead, told an audience of hundreds of people about the interactions she had enjoyed with the film’s fans during the event.

“It’s like this whole second family you never knew you had, everyone is like a community, friendly, supportive of not only us but you guys and each other,” she said. “We need a bit more niceness in the world, so I’m grateful.”

It was the first time Davis had appeared at a public event since announcing on 11 August that she has stage four breast cancer.

She said in that announcement that it had “metastasised” to her bones following a diagnosis a year-and-half-ago, meaning it was “too late” for chemotherapy.

Davis signed autographs and posed for photographs before appearing on Saturday’s panel.

Some fans posing questions told the actress “I love you so much”, but she was not asked directly about her health.

The Shaun of the Dead director, Edgar Wright, and Simon Pegg, who played the film’s lead role were also on the panel. Davis played Dianne, an aspiring actress who was one of the core group of survivors of the zombie apocalypse, in the cult British movie and helps Pegg’s character Shaun fight off the legions of the undead.

Her favourite memories of filming, she said, were “when we all pretended to be zombies and walked across the square; it was like being naughty schoolkids.

“It was a fun time, we went a bit mad.”

The actress, who played receptionist Dawn Tinsley in the BBC sitcom The Office and whose father is comedian Jasper Carrott, was also applauded when asked for advice about getting into the film industry.

She said: “We all grow up with a different life with a different world telling us we all have limitations.

“None of us do, our only limitations are things that we think are limiting. We can do anything, or be anybody, and don’t apologise for that.”

David had thanked fans for their “kindness and support” in another post two days after revealing she had cancer.

“OK, so the last two days have been utterly overwhelming, in that I had zero idea my cancer post would have the attention it did,” she said.

“Truly, I am in shock. That said, thank you to everyone for the tremendous amount of kindness and support you have sent me. Good grief it was emotional.”