Angelina Jolie said her double mastectomy scar was “a choice I made” and that she is “grateful” for what she did.
“I’ve always been someone who was more interested in the scars that people carry and their lives,” the actress said in an interview with France Inter on Tuesday. “I’m not attracted to the perfect idea of a life without blemishes.”
“My scar is my own choice to stay here as long as I can with my kids. Because of that, I love my scar. And I’m grateful for the opportunity and choice to do something proactive about my health.”
Jolie, 50, said having access to the preventive treatment was especially meaningful to her because she lost her mother Marcheline Bertrand to cancer when she was young and is now “raising my children without a grandmother.”
Beltran was diagnosed with ovarian cancer in 1999 and then breast cancer. She passed away in January 2007 at the age of 56.
“So for me, I think this is life. If you come to the end of your life, you won’t be able to say that you’ve lived a full life, without any mistakes or stains or blemishes,” Jolie concluded.
Jolie has six children with ex-husband Brad Pitt: Maddox (23), Pax (21), Zahara (20), Shiloh (18), and twins Knox and Vivienne (16).
The Oscar winner underwent a mastectomy in 2013 after doctors told her she had a nearly 90 percent chance of developing breast cancer after testing positive for the BRCA1 gene mutation.
At the time, she also published her first-hand testimony in a powerful New York Times op-ed.
“The decision to have a mastectomy wasn’t easy, but I’m so glad I made it. My chances of getting breast cancer have gone from 87 percent to less than 5 percent. I can now tell my children that they don’t have to fear losing me to breast cancer,” Jolie wrote in the article.
Two years later, Jolie also decided to have her ovaries and fallopian tubes removed.
In the years since then, the “Girl, Interrupted” actress has rarely commented on the surgery.
Last October, she echoed similar sentiments, saying she had no regrets about her decision.
“It’s my choice. I’m not saying everyone should do it, but it’s important to have a choice. And I have no regrets,” she told Hello! magazine.
In December 2025, she exposed her double mastectomy scars for the first time when she posed for Time France.
“I share this hurt with so many women I love,” the “Mr. & Mrs. Smith” star told the outlet. “It’s always inspiring to see other women share their stories.”
“When I learned that TIME France would be sharing information about breast health, prevention, and breast cancer knowledge, I wanted to participate.”
