Published: 07:30 AM, 26 June 2026
Jolie turns personal pain into performance for ‘Couture’ film
Academy Award winner Angelina Jolie faced one of her deepest fears on screen for the French film "Couture" - being diagnosed with cancer.
Based on personal experiences of writer and director Alice Winocour, Jolie plays fictional American filmmaker Maxine Walker, who, while producing a film to accompany a runway show for Paris Fashion Week, discovers she has breast cancer, Reuters reports.
Jolie's mother, Marcheline Bertrand, died of breast cancer at the age of 56, and Jolie underwent a double mastectomy in 2013 after discovering she was carrying the same genetic mutation as her mother.
"I thought often of my mother and how much I think this film would have been wonderful for her when she was going through this," she told Reuters.
Jolie had to go through a scene where operation lines were placed on her chest by an oncologist.
"It felt a strange moment to have Hollywood in my hospital room," Jolie said.
"Here I am, you know, in my gown, getting my needles, doing all the stuff that I do, but now we are sharing it. And so, it felt very vulnerable,” she added.
Alongside Jolie, the cast of “Couture” includes Ada, played by Anyier Anei, who is a model struggling with the fashion industry putting her on a pedestal, and make-up artist Angele, played by Ella Rumpf, who is trying to break out of the fashion scene by becoming a writer.
Jolie hopes that each character’s story will resonate with viewers.
