(PA Photos/ABACA)
Sleek and sexy as ever in a flowing black gown, Angelina Jolie yesterday made her first appearance since she revealed she underwent a double mastectomy — and said she has been blown away by the kindness she’s received.
“I’ve been very happy to see the discussion of women’s health expanded, and that means the world to me,” the actress said as she arrived at the London premiere (left) of partner Brad Pitt’s new zombie flick, “World War Z.”
“I’ve been very moved by the support from people,” she added.
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The “Tomb Raider” star, 37, revealed last month that she had the operation because of a predisposition to breast cancer.
Her mom, actress Marcheline Bertrand, had battled the disease before dying of ovarian cancer at age 56 in 2007, and her aunt, Debbie Martin, died of breast cancer last month at age 61.
With that family history in mind, Jolie got a test that revealed she had the BRCA1 gene that increases a carrier’s chance of developing breast cancer.
Starting this year, she underwent procedures to remove her breasts and have them replaced with implants.
The operations have reduced her chance of developing breast cancer from 87 percent to less than 5 percent.
She also has a predisposition to ovarian cancer and will soon have her ovaries removed.
“It’s absolutely a heroic decision to undertake that as a preventative attack on it and then to go beyond and share that with others, because she realizes that this is not available to everyone and it should be — the testing and surgery,” Pitt said yesterday as the couple strolled into the event (below).
He said her decision has also made their family more secure.
“I’m just relieved that’s not going to be the thing that takes her out,” Pitt, 49, told Sky TV.
“The biggest fear, as a father, is keeping the family alive and safe and together, and she has done that for us.”
Pitt also described how the couple explained Jolie’s surgery to their six children.
“We have a policy in our family, no secrets. I mean, there’s an age of understanding, so you’ve got to present it in a way that is age appropriate, but we know our children very well,” according to ExtraTV. “We want everything to be on the table and any questions they have, for them to ask.”