Angelina Jolie grew emotional while remembering her late mother, Marcheline Bertrand, during a Q&A at the Toronto International Film Festival on Sunday.

The Oscar winner, 50, was asked about hope after loss during the premiere of her new film Couture. After expressing condolences to an audience member, Jolie recalled advice from her mother, who died of cancer in 2007.

“She once said, ‘All anybody ever asks me about is cancer,’” Jolie shared. “So if you know someone going through something, ask them about the rest of their life. They’re still living.”

Bertrand, diagnosed with ovarian and later breast cancer, died at 56. Her death profoundly shaped Jolie, who later underwent a preventive double mastectomy in 2013 after learning she carried the BRCA1 gene mutation.

 

In a 2020 New York Times essay, Jolie described losing her mother as like having “a protective blanket ripped away.” Bertrand had divorced Jolie’s father, Jon Voight, in 1976. They also shared son James Haven.

Couture, directed by Alice Winocour, follows Jolie’s character, Maxine Walker, a filmmaker in Paris facing a divorce, motherhood, and a serious diagnosis. Winocour noted Jolie’s personal connection to the story, given her own family’s history with breast cancer.