Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt attend the world premiere of ‘World War Z’ at The Empire Cinema today in London. (WireImage)
Angelina Jolie in 2010 (left) and at today’s premiere (right). (REUTERS)
Actress Angelina Jolie said today she’s been blown away by the overwhelming support she’s received for undergoing a double mastectomy as a preventive strike against cancer.
Jolie attended the London premiere of boyfriend Brad Pitt’s “World War Z,” in her first public appearance since revealing that she had the radical surgery to fight breast cancer.
“I’ve been very happy to see the discussion of women’s health expanded and that means the world to me,” said Jolie, who lost her mom Marcheline Bertrand on Jan. 27, 2007, following a long bout with ovarian cancer.
“And after losing my mom to these issues, I’m very grateful for it. I’ve been very moved by the support from people.”
Pitt and Jolie wore matching black outfits and strolled down a black carpet outside the Empire Cinema Leicester Square.
PHOTOS: ANGELINA JOLIE AND BRAD PITT AT TODAY’S PREMIERE
Jolie revealed last month that she has an inherited genetic mutation that puts her at high risk of breast and ovarian cancer. Bertrand battled both breast and ovarian cancer, while Jolie’s aunt, Debbie Martin, died of breast cancer last month.
Jolie, 37, managed to undergo a series of surgeries — to remove her breasts and have them replaced by implants — and keep the procedures quiet until she announced it herself.
She’s said all the surgeries have reduced her chance of developing breast cancer from 87 percent to under 5 percent. Jolie is reportedly going to remove her ovaries next.
“I’m very proud,” Pitt told Sky TV about his courageous wife.
“I’m just relieved that’s [cancer] not going to be the thing that takes her out. The biggest fear, as a father, is keeping the family alive and safe and together and she has done that for us.”
He added: “I get a bit teary eyed [talking about it].”
Pitt said he wished all women could have access to the same cancer screenings that might have saved Jolie from a premature death.
She had the operations after learning she’s the carrier of the dreaded BRCA1 gene, making he a prime cancer candidate.
“It’s absolutely a heroic decision to undertake that as a preventative attack on it and then to go beyond and that share with others, because she realizes that this is not available to everyone and it should be – the testing and surgery,” Pitt told Sky TV.
“As the other half, when you’re sitting and waiting, I got the easy part. It’s emotional.”