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 cancer.
“I share these scars with many women I love. And I always get excited when I see other women sharing theirs. I wanted to join them, knowing that Time France would share information about breast health, prevention and breast cancer awareness,” said Jolie, in an excerpt from the interview with Time posted on its website.
It is, said Time France in presenting this exclusive, a gesture of strength on the part of the actress and a “symbol of hope” that “promotes access to information and 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 having undergone a preventive double mastectomy, breast cancer screening increased by 20% in France alone, the magazine recalled.
In her new film, ‘Couture’ (by French director Alice Winocour), Jolie plays an American film director who is diagnosed with cancer and whose fate intertwines with that of two other women dealing with their own difficulties, all in the midst of the hustle and bustle of Paris Fashion Week.
“It’s 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.
Angelina Jolie and what disease represents
For her, “trials, illnesses and pain are part” of existence, “but what matters is how we deal with them”.
“For me, and for so many women who have lived through this, it was essential to remember that what gets us through these moments is just life,” explained the 50-year-old performer, who also underwent ovarian and fallopian tube removal in 2015 due to cancer risk.
He recalled in this regard that his mother had been ill for years (with ovarian cancer) and that one night, when asked about her chemotherapy, she told him “very emotionally” that she would have preferred “to be told about something else, because she had the impression that the disease was becoming her whole identity.”
That’s why she praises that ‘Couture’ “shows life” and admits that it was that “luminous perspective” that convinced her to take on the role.
Jolie defended in the interview that tests be carried out to detect the gene she carries, BRCA, because it is linked to breast and ovarian cancer.
“All women,” she argued, “should be able to decide about their health and have the information they need 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 in order to encourage informed decision making,” reported Agencia EFE.
Find out more at ‘QueOnnda.com’.
