After more than 10 years together, Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt are stronger than ever. In a Today Show interview with Tom Brokaw, which aired November 2, the couple opened up about their “very, very stable” relationship and Jolie’s recent health scare.
Pitt, 51, received a phone call in March, from his wife, 40, who had just gotten word from her doctor that her recent blood work had shown early signs of ovarian cancer. “I was out in France, and Angie called me,” Pitt told Brokaw on the Today Show. “I got straight on a plane to return.”
Jolie was forced to make a decision; she chose to have her ovaries and fallopian tubes removed, which brought on early onset menopause. Pitt’s role in the decision was “support.” During the interview, Pitt held his wife’s hand, obviously in awe of her strength and dedication to their family. “There was no vanity to my wife’s approach,” he said. “It was mature.”
Pitt and Jolie’s new film, By the Sea, was inspired by Jolie’s grief over her mother’s illness and death from ovarian cancer in 2007. Jolie not only acts in the film; she is the writer, director, and producer.
The real-life couple play a “deeply troubled” couple in the film, which Jolie says they were able to pull off because of their real-life stability. “I’m counting on the audience to know that if it was close to us at all, we could never make this film,” Jolie explained. It’s because we’re actually very, very stable and these aren’t our issues.”
By the Sea is the first time Jolie and Pitt are starring on screen together since 2005’s Mr. and Mrs. Smith. “We were joking at one point,” Jolie said. “We were saying…’See, this is the beginning. And then this is ten years later. This is what 10 years of marriage will do to you.”
What our some of the couple’s issues in their marriage? Cooking.
“Every three months I’ll say, ‘Honey, I think I should learn how to cook,” Jolie said. Pitt joked, “I just humor it. But really, she has no business in the kitchen.”
While both celebrities are passionate about their work, their top priority is always their six children and each other.
