Actress Angelina Jolie, 49, Says She Would Be ‘Absolutely Nothing’ Without Her Mother’s Love, 18 Years After Losing Her Beloved Mom to Breast & Ovarian Cancers

Before accepting her award, Jolie is seen telling the audience, as per a video shared on X by the Hollywood Reporter, “I’m very grateful for the Santa Barbara International Film Festival … Thank You. And most of all I’m very thankful to be a part of this community.

“Many people go through life without a creative outlet. That I think of my mother. She had to give her dreams of a creative life but she embraced that side of mine.”

She continued, becoming emotionally, “My mother would write letters to my characters, “Dear Gia, Dear Lisa Row, Dear Lara Croft,” and for the last 16 years, I haven’t had those letters.

“I try to image sometimes now what should would write, and she would have probably have told Maria that she loved her, because Maria had many things, but she never had a mothers love … and I would be absolutely nothing without mine.”

Angelina Jolie gets emotional remembering her mother while accepting the Maltin Modern Master Award at #SBIFF2025 pic.twitter.com/kGMbyE166M

— The Hollywood Reporter (@THR) February 6, 2025

Jolie added, “She passed away many years ago, this time of year, so it’s always this weather that reminds me of her … and that feeling, that sensibility, that makes that actually hard for me, is part of what is my work and, but … connects many artists to their work and I know I’m not alone in this.”

She concluded with a poem by Irish poet William Butler Yeats, “Out of the quarrel with others we make rhetoric, but out of the quarrel with ourselves we make poetry.”

Losing Her Mom To Cancer

Jolie, who lost her mom Marcheline Bertrand in 2007 after battling breast and ovarian cancers, previously went public about her mom’s death in an Op-Ed for The New York Times.

“I lost my mother in my thirties. When I look back to that time, I can see how much her death changed me. It was not sudden, but so much shifted inside. Losing a mother’s love and warm, soft embrace is like having someone rip away a protective blanket,” she wrote of her loss.

RELATED: 10 Years After Preventive Mastectomy, Angelina Jolie Marks Mom’s Death From Cancer With Moving Message to Get Mammograms

Bertrand, also an actress like her daughter, came to Los Angeles from Illinois, and studied with Lee Strasberg, a prominent actor and teacher. She reportedly met Jon Voight, Jolie’s father, in 1971, but they later divorced.

Jolie chose to undergo several preventative procedures, to minimize the chances that she would develop cancer.

In 2013, she decided to have the double mastectomy. She also underwent other major surgeries that involved removing breast tissue, placing temporary fillers, and breast reconstruction via an implant.

In 2015, she opened up about the procedures she had to remove her ovaries and fallopian tubes, reducing her risk of developing ovarian cancer – promoting the “Angelina Jolie Effect,” a term Harvard researchers used to refer to the “large spike in genetic tests for a gene known to increase breast cancer risk following Jolie’s op-ed.”

Coping After The Loss of a Loved One

It’s important to remember that grief may look different for everyone—and the stages of grief are denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance. These labels help us frame and identify what we may be feeling. These stages can also occur in any order.

The time it takes to navigate these stages can also vary, so giving yourself grace and patience is essential while navigating your feelings.

WATCH: Dealing With Grief Related to Health Problems

“It often gets better over time, but on certain days, it can look like depression, and on other days, people look perfectly normal and can function,” Dr. Scott Irwin, a board-certified psychiatrist and Director of Supportive Care Services at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, previously told SurvivorNet.

Dr. Irwin added that grieving people are coming to terms with “the change in their life; the future they had imagined is now different.”

SurvivorNet spoke with Megan Newcomer, who lost a close friend to metastatic cancer in 2018. She shared her unique way of coping with grief. Her friend was an athlete and soccer player, so to help her cope, she embarked on a marathon race in his honor.

Newcomer advises others grieving to first “acknowledge your feelings.”

“Then, think about a way that you could honor the person through a mechanism that is meaningful to you. So that can be artwork, music, or developing a financial fundraising project. It could be something very simple, but I do think having it be intentional is what you’re doing to help honor this person,” Newcomer adds.

In a column for SurvivorNet, New York-based clinical psychologist Dr. Marianna Strongin wrote that it may be helpful to remind yourself that these feelings are “meaningful yet temporary.”

“If you approach them with compassion, kindness, and eventually acceptance, you will come away from this period in your life more connected to your resilience and strength,” she wrote.

The Jolie Effect

Angelina Jolie helped popularize BRCA genetic testing in 2013 after she penned an op-ed in The New York Times revealing she had the BRCA1 gene mutation. In her memorable piece, she noted the gene mutation increased her risk of breast cancer by an estimated 87% and her risk of ovarian cancer by 50%.

“Once I knew that this was my reality, I decided to be proactive and to minimize the risk as much (as) I could,” Jolie writes. “I made a decision to have a preventive double mastectomy (removal of both breasts). I started with the breasts, as my risk of breast cancer is higher than my risk of ovarian cancer, and the surgery is more complex.”

“But I am writing about it now because I hope that other women can benefit from my experience. Cancer is still a word that strikes fear into people’s hearts, producing a deep sense of powerlessness. But today, it is possible to find out through a blood test whether you are highly susceptible to breast and ovarian cancer, and then take action.”

Jolie, who is a mother of six, had her ovaries and breast removed after her mom, Marcheline Bertrand, passed away after battling breast and ovarian cancers.

Colloquially called the “Angelina Jolie Effect” or “Jolie gene” test, the impact of the actress’ op-ed prompted a notable spike in BRCA gene testing. The new test was created to determine the women who are at the most significant risk of developing breast cancer and ovarian cancer because of a specific gene mutation, the BRCA gene mutation.

According to a 2016 Harvard Medical School report, “Researchers estimated that in the span of two weeks, the op-ed may have precipitated 4,500 more BRCA tests than would have normally occurred during that time period nationally at a price tag of $13.5 million.”

How to Cope With Complex & Changing Emotions

When a stressful life event occurs, people may react with a range of different (and quickly changing) emotions. This is completely normal.

“The way people respond is very variable,” Psychiatrist Dr. Lori Plutchik tells SurvivorNet. “Very much consistent with how they respond to stresses and challenges in their life in general.”

In this video, Dr. Plutchik is speaking mostly about how people react after a cancer diagnosis which can be a huge range of emotions from fear to anger to determination.

However, the conclusion remains the same no matter what stressor someone may be dealing with: your emotions are valid and seeking mental health help may look different for every person.

“People have a range of emotions when they’re diagnosed with cancer,” Dr. Plutchik explains. “And they can include fear, anger … and these emotions tend to be fluid. They can recede and return based on where someone is in the process. Going through a cancer diagnosis is just the beginning of a complicated, complicated process.”

Handling stressful life events

Dr. Plutchik explains that the patient, or person going through the stressful event, should accept that emotions will be fluid. You may feel fine one day and then feel a massive wave of stress the next. It’s also important for those you look to for support whether that’s a therapist, friends and family, or both to understand the fluidity of stress-related emotions.

If a stressful event is affecting how you think and feel, it may be time to seek some sort of mental health treatment. This could mean traditional talk therapy, medication, changing lifestyle habits (like exercise and diet), seeking out a support group, or many other approaches.

Questions to Ask Your Doctor

• What can I do if my emotions begin to feel overwhelming?
• Are there approaches that don’t involve traditional therapy?
• Should I consider medication such as antidepressants?
• What are the potential side effects should I decide to begin medication?

Contributing: SurvivorNet Staff

Learn more about SurvivorNet's rigorous medical review process.

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