They’re one of Hollywood’s golden couples, with an adorably close-knit family and equally glittering careers, but Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie have faced their fair share of challenges this year.
Angelina, who tragically lost her grandmother, mother and aunt to cancer, had a preventive double mastectomy two years ago.
Earlier this year, she also revealed she had chosen to have her ovaries and fallopian tubes removed after a test detected possible early signs of cancer.
On Monday, Brad and Angelina sat down for a rare joint interview with Today to talk about how they coped with her preventive surgeries and how Brad reacted to the news.
“No question, it’s a scary decision and there’s many things that can go wrong … but it was really led by her dedication of, ‘this is what I gotta do, and this is what I’m gonna do,’” Brad said.
Brad praised Angelina’s strength and maturity in making the tough decision, and Angelina didn’t hold back about her supportive hubby.
“He made it very, very clear to me that what he loved and what was a woman to him was somebody who was smart and capable and cared about her family,” Angelina said, as she held on tightly to Brad’s hand.
Angelina with Zahara and Shiloh at the Kids’ Choice Awards this year, her first event post-surgery. Photo: Getty
“It’s not about your physical body. So I knew through the surgeries that he was on my side and that this wasn’t something where I was going to feel less of a woman, because my husband wasn’t going to let that happen.”
The surgery to remove her ovaries meant Angelina experienced forced menopause and is no longer able to have children, but as she wrote in an open letter detailing the decision, she felt it was the right choice.
“I feel feminine, and grounded in the choices I am making for myself and my family,” she wrote at the time.
“I know my children will never have to say, ‘Mom died of ovarian cancer.’”
