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Angelina Jolie was overcome with emotion during the world premiere of her new film Couture at the 2025 Toronto International Film Festival, where she reflected on her late mother's battle with cancer.
The Oscar-winning actress, 50, portrays Maxine, a filmmaker who learns of her cancer diagnosis while working in Paris. The role struck a deep chord with Jolie, whose mother, Marcheline Bertrand, died in 2007 at the age of 56 after battling breast and ovarian cancer.
During a post-screening Q&A at the Princess of Wales Theatre on September 7, an audience member asked Jolie for words of hope for those grieving loved ones lost to cancer. Holding back tears, she paused before saying, "I'm very sorry for your loss."
She went on to recall a moment with her mother during treatment: "One thing I remember my mother saying when she had cancer ... we had had a dinner and people were asking her how she was feeling and she said, 'All anybody ever asks me about is cancer.'" Jolie added, "I would say, if you know someone who's going through something, ask them about everything else in their life as well. They're a whole person, and they're still living." The audience responded with applause.
Jolie connected the story of Couture with her own life, explaining, "Every single person here has been touched by grief, every single person here has lost someone. Many of you have had that moment in the hospital. You wonder, does that define you or how you live through it? What I really love is that there's often films that deal with cancer that become about the cancer, and the life becomes defined by the illness, instead of who is this life? Who is Maxine? She's a mother, she's an artist, she's sexual, all of these things I thought were really important to show, and to live forward while we're here."
Director Alice Winocour said the story was not intended to "depress you about cancer" but rather highlight "the pulsation of life." She noted Jolie's personal connection to the role, as both her mother and grandmother died of breast cancer, and Jolie herself underwent a preventative double mastectomy in 2013 after discovering she carried the BRCA1 gene mutation.
Speaking about that decision in a 2013 New York Times op-ed, Jolie explained that her chances of developing breast cancer had reduced from 87 percent to under 5 percent, allowing her to reassure her children that they no longer needed to fear losing her to the disease.
Couture also stars Ella Rumpf and Anyier Anei, and explores themes of survival, identity, and resilience. TIFF runs through September 14.
