Angelina Jolie has opened up about one of the most personal chapters of her life, revealing her mastectomy scars more than a decade after undergoing preventative surgery. The Maleficent actor, now 50, says the decision to share her scars publicly is rooted in solidarity, education and the belief that women deserve clear, accessible information about their health.
Over ten years after her double mastectomy, Jolie explained why she felt the time was right to speak openly. “I share these scars with many women I love,” she told TIME France in an interview published on December 15. “I’m always moved when I see other women share theirs. I wanted to join them, knowing that TIME France would share information on breast health, prevention and knowledge about breast cancer.” The actress appeared on the cover of the magazine, visibly displaying the scars for the first time.
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Jolie’s advocacy stems from deeply personal loss. Her mother, actor Marcheline Bertrand, died from breast cancer in 2007, aged 56. In 2013, Jolie revealed she carried the BRCA1 gene mutation, significantly increasing her risk of breast and ovarian cancer. She detailed the experience in a widely read New York Times op-ed, explaining her decision to undergo a preventative double mastectomy. “The decision to have a mastectomy was not easy,” she wrote at the time. “But it is one I am very happy that I made. I can tell my children that they don’t need to fear they will lose me to breast cancer.”
Two years later, Jolie also had her ovaries and fallopian tubes removed to further reduce her cancer risk. Speaking recently, she stressed that such options should be available to all women navigating similar decisions. “Genetic tests and screening are intended to be accessible and affordable for women with obvious risk factors or significant family history,” she explained. “When in 2013, I shared my experience, it was to encourage informed choices. Health decisions must be personal, and women must have the information and support necessary to make these choices.” She added, “Access to screening and care should not depend on financial resources or where you live.”
Jolie’s message echoes a wider cultural shift, where public conversations about health — often driven by visibility and social media — are leading to earlier diagnoses and greater awareness.
Amy Schumer revealed earlier this year she discovered she was suffering from Cushing syndrome after online commentary about her appearance prompted medical professionals to weigh in. As she appeared on a January 2025 Call Her Daddy episode, she recalls fans noticing her face looked quite puffy during a wide press tour. “The internet really came for me after doing a bunch of press,” before noting that doctors in the comments suggested something was wrong. After realising steroid injections were causing the condition, she later shared her relief, writing that learning it would resolve itself was “the greatest news imaginable.”
@callherdaddy Daddy gang, who’s the 1 person that amps you up?? @Amy Schumer ♬ original sound - Call Her Daddy
Similarly, Emilia Clarke has spoken candidly about how quickly health emergencies can become life-threatening, using her own experience to underline the importance of listening to your body. In a 2019 essay for The New Yorker titled A Battle for My Life, the Game of Thrones star described collapsing at the gym after suffering a sudden, severe headache. “I reached the toilet, sank to my knees, and proceeded to be violently, voluminously ill,” she wrote. “Meanwhile, the pain — shooting, stabbing, constricting pain — was getting worse. At some level, I knew what was happening: my brain was damaged.” Clarke was rushed to hospital, where doctors diagnosed her with a subarachnoid haemorrhage, a life-threatening type of stroke caused by a ruptured aneurysm. She underwent emergency surgery and later revealed that while recovering she experienced aphasia, leaving her “muttering nonsense.”
A subsequent brain scan in 2013 revealed a second growth that had doubled in size, requiring another operation — one that initially failed and led to a massive bleed. Surgeons were forced to operate again, this time accessing her brain through her skull. Clarke has since said she is now “at a hundred per cent”, and has repeatedly stressed how vital it is to take physical warning signs seriously and seek help early — a message that aligns closely with Angelina Jolie’s efforts to encourage awareness, prevention and informed health decisions.
Together, these stories highlight the power of visibility — whether through magazine covers, essays or online conversations — in shaping public understanding of health. For Angelina Jolie, revealing her scars is not about revisiting trauma, but about ensuring her message reaches as many women as possible, encouraging informed choices, early screening and open discussion around issues that can too often remain hidden.
