Watch Angelina Jolie Get Emotional While Talking About Her Late Mother’s Cancer Journey

As film fans, we often forget that celebrities are people too. Recently, Angelina Jolie took a moment out of her busy 2025 movie schedule to share a profoundly emotional moment while discussing her late mother, Marcheline Bertrand. A fan captured the powerful moment, and it is something you need to see for yourself.

In a video posted to X by critic Brandon Lewis, Angelina Jolie, along with her fellow castmates, can be seen participating in a Q&A following the premiere of her latest project, Couture. During the Q&A, an audience member, who had recently lost a friend to cancer, asked the actor & director what message of "hope" she would offer to those still struggling.

After sharing her condolences with the audience member for their loss, with tears in her eyes, the Maleficent lead shared her heartfelt response, which you can watch for yourself below.

Jolie’s co-star Anyier Anei and the film’s writer-director Alice Winocour can be seen in the video providing support by placing their hands on the upset star’s back. After composing herself, the A-lister shared:

This response, which you can see for yourself in the video above, resonated with me deeply. I lost my father to esophageal cancer in 2016, and one thing I remember vividly is how all-consuming the experience can feel. The person with cancer can often be reduced to just that diagnosis in the eyes of those around them, usually out of well-meaning intentions. Jolie continued:

If I could go back and change one thing about the time I had with my father, it would be to treat each day as a bit more normal and not make his diagnosis the center of every conversation. I wish I had had the Girl, Interrupted alum’s advice while I was losing my father to cancer.

Marcheline Bertrand learned she had ovarian cancer in 1999. A breast cancer diagnosis followed, and she passed away in January 2007, which prompted Angelina Jolie to get a "W" tattoo in honor of her mother.

That family history shaped the performer-turned-producer’s own choices regarding her health. In 2013, genetic screening showed a BRCA1 mutation—a “faulty gene”—that put her breast cancer risk around 87% and ovarian cancer risk near 50%. The By the Sea filmmaker opted for a preventive double mastectomy.

In her New York Times op-ed, “My Medical Choice,” she explained that the surgery dropped her breast cancer risk to under 5%.

Angelina Jolie delivered the emotional message while discussing her latest film, Couture, during its premiere. In the flick—her first since portraying opera diva Maria Callas in last year’s Maria, which is available for streaming with a Netflix subscription—the Changeling actress, 50, stars as Maxine, an American film director hired to create a video for a Paris fashion event while dealing with a breast cancer diagnosis and navigating a divorce.

This theme resonates with the ’90s icon, who has experienced a lengthy divorce from her ex-husband, Brad Pitt. While Pitt has been open about their split, Jolie has remained more private regarding her feelings in recent years.

Ultimately, Angilna Jolie’s deeply vulnerable moment is not for show; it serves as a potent reminder to view people battling cancer as whole individuals. If you haven't seen it yet, be sure to watch the clip above. It reinforces the importance of approaching others with empathy rather than focusing solely on their diagnosis–a human lesson we can all learn from.

Couture premiered at the 2025 Toronto International Film Festival and is currently seeking U.S. distribution. Stay tuned to see if it will hit theaters this year or if we'll be waiting until the 2026 movie schedule.