In 2013, Angelina Jolie had a double mastectomy after she learned that she carried the BRCA1 gene mutation. The gene mutation vastly increases the likelihood of developing breast and ovarian cancers. Angelina’s mother, Marcheline Bertrand, passed away in her 50s after a lengthy cancer battle, and Jolie has spoken about how the women on her mother’s side of the family tend to die before their time, and how her dream is to beat the odds and watch her kids grow up. Well, in her latest movie, Couture, Angelina plays a woman who is diagnosed with cancer in the middle of Paris Fashion Week. Jolie attended the Paris premiere for Couture on Monday evening, and this week, she spoke about her double mastectomy and her scars.

Angelina Jolie is opening up about why she loves her “scars” from a double mastectomy in 2013. Jolie, 50, spoke about her scars in a new interview with the French media outlet French Inter. “Well, I’ve always been someone more interested in the scars and the life that people carry,” the actress began.

“I’m not drawn to some perfect idea of a life that has no scars. So no, I think, hey, you know, I see my scars are a choice I made to do what I could do to stay here as long as I could with my children,” the Oscar winner explained.

The Couture star continued, “I love my scars because of that, you know, and I’m grateful that I had the opportunity to have the choice to do something proactive about my health. I lost my mom when I was young, and I’m raising my children without a grandmother.”

“So for me, no, I think this is life. And if you get to the end of your life and you haven’t made [a big, you know], you haven’t made mistakes, you haven’t made a mess, you don’t have scars, you haven’t lived a full enough life, I think,” Jolie concluded.

[From People]

I remember the sh-t Angelina got back in 2013, especially all of the asinine stuff Melissa Etheridge said about Angelina’s choice not being “brave.” But Angelina’s proactive decision aged so well – Jolie educated several generations of women to get tested for the BRCA1 gene mutation, and she helped provide a path for women to advocate for their own health and future. Jolie has owned her decision and never wavered – she knows she did the right thing for herself and her family.

Here’s the Time France cover with Angelina from last year, where she showed her scars:

Photos courtesy of Backgrid, Cover Images. Cover courtesy of Time France.