The American actress Angelina Jolie stars in the first issue of the French edition of Time magazine, where she shows for the first time the scar from the preventive mastectomy she underwent in 2013 to coincide with the promotion of her new film, which deals with the topic of cancer.
“I share these scars with many women I love. And I always get excited when I see other women share theirs. I wanted to join them, knowing that Time France would share information about breast health, prevention and knowledge about breast cancer,” said Jolie, in an excerpt from the interview with Time that has been published on its website.
It is, Time France indicated when presenting this exclusive, a gesture of strength on the part of the actress and a “symbol of hope” that “promotes access to information and the prevention of breast cancer, the most common female cancer in the world and the leading cause of cancer mortality in women.”
Already in 2013, after Jolie revealed that she had undergone a preventive double mastectomy, in France alone breast cancer screening increased by 20%, according to the magazine.
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In her new film, ‘Couture’ (by French director Alice Winocour), Jolie plays an American film director who is diagnosed with cancer and whose destiny becomes intertwined with that of two other women who deal with their own difficulties, all in the midst of Paris Fashion Week.
“It is a very personal story for me; I immediately felt a deep connection with Maxine Walker, my character,” said Jolie about this film, which participated in the last San Sebastian Festival.
For her, “trials, illnesses and pain are part” of existence, “but what matters is how we face them.”
“For me, and for so many women who have experienced this, it was essential to remember that what allows us to overcome these moments is just life,” explained the 50-year-old interpreter, who also underwent removal of her ovaries and fallopian tubes in 2015 due to the risk of suffering from cancer.
She recalled in this regard that her mother was sick for years (from ovarian cancer) and that one night, when they asked her about her chemotherapy, she told her “very excitedly” that she would have preferred “that they had talked to her about something else, because she had the impression that the disease was becoming her entire identity.”
That’s why she praises that ‘Couture’ “shows life” and admits that it was that “luminous perspective” that convinced her to play the role.
Jolie defended in the interview that tests be carried out to detect the gene that she carries, BRCA, because it is linked to breast and ovarian cancer.
“All women – she maintained – should be able to decide about their health and have the necessary information to make their own decisions: genetic testing and screening programs must be accessible and affordable for women with obvious risk factors or significant family history. When I shared my experience in 2013, I did so with the aim of encouraging informed decision-making.”
With information from EFE
