Jolie, who plays a woman diagnosed with cancer in the film, hosted a dinner and discussion at Atelier Jolie in N.Y.C. on June 15
:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():format(jpeg)/Angelina-Jolie-1-061626-17b4056c99d94c18a815a291b52d26de.jpg "Angelina Jolie Couture")
NEED TO KNOW
- Angelina Jolie plays a woman diagnosed with breast cancer in writer-director Alice Winocour's new drama Couture
- The Oscar winner was joined by Winocour and others for an intimate dinner honoring the strength of cancer survivors and the power of community at Atelier Jolie on Monday, June 15
- Jolie lost her mother, Marcheline Bertrand, to breast and ovarian cancer in 2007, and revealed in 2013 that she underwent a preventive double mastectomy
Angelina Jolie's new movie Couture is a deeply personal one for the Oscar winner.
In the film written and directed by Alice Winocour, Jolie, 51, plays Maxine, an American film director who's in Europe filming a segment for a fashion show when she's diagnosed with breast cancer.
Jolie's own mother Marcheline Bertrand, died of ovarian and breast cancer in 2007. Jolie herself revealed in 2013 she had a double mastectomy after testing positive for the “faulty” BRCA1 gene, increasing her chances of developing breast cancer by 87 percent.
Couture — which also features intersecting storylines involving young model and immigrant Ada (Anyier Anei) and makeup artist Angèle (Ella Rumpf) — "is a beautifully written piece about women from different countries," Jolie tells PEOPLE.
Credit: Courtesy of Atelier Jolie, Photography by Daniel Chen
"It has something to say that I thought could be useful to people, showing how everyone is dealing with things that make us very human, and that if we can figure out how to live through challenges by leaning on each other and having more empathy towards one another, the better and less alone we will be," she adds.
In that spirit of community, Jolie hosted an intimate dinner — catered by the immigrant and refugee chefs of Eat Offbeat — on Monday, June 15, in N.Y.C., where guests honored the strength of cancer survivors. The 20 invitees who gathered at Atelier Jolie, the actress's downtown creative collective, included Columbia University's Dr. Rita Charon, a general internist and literary scholar, as well as Winocour.
Credit: Courtesy of Atelier Jolie, Photography by Daniel Chen
"Alice is a wonderful director and approaches the stories of the women in Couture with sensitivity and hope. The film is not about an end for my character but rather about a renewed desire to live life until your last breath which particularly resonates with me at this time in my life," Jolie adds.
"I am not sure I was strong enough even five years ago to do this. To be open and trusting to share and be vulnerable again," says the mother of six.
"Things happen in life that take us off path. We lose ourselves and we feel isolated. I would have given anything to have my mother alive to be there for her grandchildren," she says.
Credit: Courtesy of Atelier Jolie, Photography by Daniel Chen
Jolie debuted Couture at the Toronto International Film Festival last September and spoke about her connection to the film. While making the movie, “I felt very vulnerable,” she told Variety at the time.
Credit: HanWay Films/Youtube
“I feel like it's such a personal film,” continued Jolie, who wore one of her late mom's necklaces while making the movie. “It felt so private that in my mind, it's probably the one film that doesn't feel like a film.”
During a post-screening Q&A at TIFF with Winocour, Rumpf and Anei, Jolie answered a question from an audience member who said she recently lost a friend to cancer and asked what their message of “hope” is.
Credit: HanWay Films/Youtube
"I think I will say that one thing I remember my mother saying when she had cancer, she said to me once, 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 said from the stage at the Princess of Wales Theatre.
"So I would say, if you know someone who is going through something, ask them about everything else in their life as well, you know? They're a whole person and they're still living.”
Couture is in theaters on Friday, June 26.
Comments
Post a Comment