Years later, the actress opened the topic of breast cancer prevention again and was more personal than ever. Well-known Slovak women also underwent a preventive procedure.
In 2013, the whole world was shocked by the information that Angelina Jolie had both breasts removed for fear of cancer. There was a big “halo” around it, and thank God for that. No medical company could do a better cancer prevention campaign.
The open confession of the famous actress, who lost her mother for the same reason, caused the so-called “The Angelina Effect”. Even women who ignored preventive examinations arranged appointments with their doctors in droves.
After twelve years, Angelina returned to the topic again during the filming of the film, which reminded her of difficult times.
In the article you will read:
- what the actress has been pointing out since the death of her mother,
- thanks to which he symbolically always has her with him,
- the story of which woman sent Marta Jandová for genetic testing,
- how you can find out if you have a gene mutation.
Angelina Jolie at the premiere of Couture, 20th Rome Film Festival, October 18, 2025
Source: Profimedia
Actress Angelina Jolie is a carrier of the BRCA1 gene mutation, which means a high risk of developing breast cancer (about 87%) and ovarian cancer (about 50%). Angelina Jolie underwent a preventive double mastectomy in 2013.
Approximately two years later, she also had her ovaries and fallopian tubes removed.
As a mother of three of her own and three adopted children, she felt strongly motivated to stay healthy. Especially when her own cancer took away her aunt and her beloved mother.
She turned the pain of loss into enlightenment
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Marcheline Bertrand, like her famous daughter, devoted herself to acting, and Angelina not only inherited her talent, but also her famous beauty. Looking at her photos from her youth, one can see her breathtaking form. The actress was very close to her mother and her departure in 2007 hit her hard. Marcheline Bertrand died at the age of 56 after a battle with breast and ovarian cancer.
Actress Angelina Jolie’s parents, Jon Voight and Marcheline Bertrand, 1975
Source: Profimedia
The actress had a painful experience before her eyes again during the filming of her new movie Coutures, which translates as stitches. In the film, she portrays an American filmmaker who is diagnosed with breast cancer. “This story resonated with me immediately. Cancer has been a part of my life for years,” she said during a shoot for the French edition of TIME magazine.
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One of the scenes in the film, where the doctor announces the diagnosis to the main character, evoked strong emotions in her.
The actress admitted in the interview that at that moment she remembered her own mother. “She was sitting in a similar chair and listening to the same sentence,” she said.
Angelina Jolie at the premiere of ‘Couture’, Toronto International Film Festival 2025, September 7, 2025
Source: Profimedia
Although the film is painfully personal for her, it says more about life than death, according to her. Since her mother’s passing, Angelina has been trying to change the perception of women undergoing treatment. The actress has now spoken through her mother’s experience about the fact that their personal story is often lost under the heading of diagnosis.
“I remember her telling me once that she wished people didn’t just keep asking her about her illness. She felt like it had become her whole identity,” she said of her mother’s plight, which many women know intimately.
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Symbolically, he always has it with him in the form of an exceptional piece of jewelry. She also had it with her during filming, but she only wears it exceptionally. “It contains her ashes. I don’t want to risk losing them,” she said quietly to foreign editors in an intimate interview.
Scars as a symbol of hope and courage
Since her mother’s death, the actress has used her influential voice to raise awareness that genetic testing and preventative measures should be more accessible to women with a family history of cancer. And she emphasized it even now:
“Every woman has the right to make decisions about her health. But she must have information. Testing and prevention must not depend on money or where you live,” the actress said.
Angelina is known for the fact that she has been active in the charitable sphere for years and does not hesitate to travel even to places that lag significantly behind other countries in the world in health care. Now she showed again that she goes to the market with her own skin for a good cause and for the first time in twelve years she showed her scars after the operation. It is precisely these that discourage many women from undergoing a preventive procedure.
She sent words of sympathy to women who made the same decision as she did years ago: “I share these scars with many of the women I love. And it always moves me when I see other women not being ashamed of them,” one of the world’s most beautiful actresses sent an important message to the world.
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The message that the actress tries to share with all women in the world is very clear: the most important thing about our body is health.
Her story even inspired Alexandre Palomba, who painted a mural in a square in Milan showing the actress with mastectomy scars. The characteristic title of the work “Love yourself” is a small reminder for all of us.
A mural by Alexandre Palombo titled Love Yourself, showing Angelina Jolie with mastectomy scars, Piazza San Babila, Milan, May 22, 2023
Source: Profimedia
It depicts the actress not only as an iconic diva, but above all as a symbol of hope and courage to make the right decision.
She was sent for examination by a woman who was diagnosed with cancer at the age of 25
Well-known Slovak and Czech women also underwent the same preventive procedure. Confectioner Michaela Králiková, now Markovičová, spoke publicly about her decision.
The mother of three children probably underwent the procedure at twelve o’clock, when a benign tumor was found before her first mastectomy appointment, which could be a harbinger of something worse.
Miška Králiková has undergone breast plastic surgery. IG: @michaela_kralikova
Source: Michaela Králiková’s Instagram
Although she openly shared what the loss of her breasts meant for her emotionally, she also encouraged other women to undergo regular preventive examinations.
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Last year, the famous Czech singer Marta Jandová also had her breasts and ovaries removed. Behind her decision was a family history in which cancer occurred all too often. At the age of 17, she took her mother, later her grandfather.
Several women from her extended family succumbed to this disease at a productive age. The youngest was only 28 years old and was her cousin’s daughter.
It was her sad story that probably, according to the singer’s own words, saved her own life. She realized that even frequent regular checks may not be enough and decided to take a test that confirmed the problematic gene. “I understood that this preventive procedure is extremely important, I understood all the reasons, I knew the statistics, and above all I wanted to stay healthy and alive for Maruška,” said the singer, who is also the mother of a 12-year-old girl today.
Marta Jandová regularly went for preventive check-ups, but after the death of a close woman, she realized that even that was not enough
Source: Instagram Marta Jandová
The life-saving decision was also made by the influencer Kristína Suchánková, who is known in the environment of social networks under the profile called thetolerantcook.
How do you find out if you are not a carrier of a gene mutation?
A mutation of the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes is detected using a genetic test that analyzes DNA. This can happen in different ways, the most common is blood sampling, but it can also be detected using a smear from the oral cavity or from saliva. Such a test is then processed in a laboratory and must then be evaluated by an expert.
Today, many laboratories in Slovakia also offer tests that a woman can order herself and carry out the collection either at home or at a doctor’s. However, it is advisable to consult the results with a geneticist or attending physician. Under certain conditions, the health insurance company can also reimburse the examination.
If you have a case of cancer in your family, try to find out about it. The stories of famous women – those with good and sad endings remind us all that this is a topic where there really is nothing to wait for.
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