After Rita Wilson was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2015, she told Tom Hanks that if she were to die, she would want him to “grieve for a long time.”
The actress recalled the couple’s heart-to-heart conversations about their health struggles when she spoke with Demi Moore at the Sound of a Woman: Rita Wilson conversation event in New York City on Tuesday.
“I said to Tom, ‘Okay, if something happens and I make the first move, I only have two requests. And one is, I want you to grieve for a very, very long time,'” Wilson, 69, revealed.
Her second request to Hanks, 69, was to throw a party.
“I want it to be a celebration of life,” Wilson remembers telling Hanks. “I want it to be something that people can tell a story about and bring joy to and remember me in that way.”
“And I think a lot of people want that, you know?” she added. “I think there is room for that.”
Wilson, who has been married to Hanks since 1988, underwent a double mastectomy and reconstructive surgery in 2015 after doctors discovered “invasive” cancer.
The “Sleepless in Seattle” star told Moore that her 2019 song “Throw Me a Party” was inspired by a conversation she and Hank had after his diagnosis.
“This song… came out of this story, which I’ve told before, in case you haven’t heard it yet, that it was about getting diagnosed and thinking, ‘I don’t know, I don’t know what’s going to happen, but I want to be here in a few years,'” Wilson told the crowd.
After reflecting on her battle with cancer, Wilson happily told the crowd, “I’m here. Yay!”
In March 2025, Wilson marked 10 years since being cancer-free with a heartfelt post on Instagram.
“10 years. Thank you so much,” Wilson told her followers.
“The feeling of gratitude is overwhelming. It hasn’t always felt this way. And anyone who’s been through it or survived it knows it’s a hamster wheel of ups and downs. But you get this far.”
Wilson said she “doesn’t really talk about cancer” but posted about her cancer-free anniversary because “it’s important to celebrate good news.”
“I’m thinking of anyone who may be going through some kind of hardship,” she added. “You are in my thoughts and prayers.”
