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Helen Hunt stars as Mary-Clare King, a geneticist who spent years researching the breast-cancer gene, in the film "Decoding Annie Parker."

Angelina Jolie's revelation in Tuesday's New York Times that she had a preventive double mastectomy stirred many to think about something they may be mostly unfamiliar with: The existence of the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes that reveal an increased risk of breast cancer.

But a group of actors and filmmakers were already immersed in that realm. Oscar-winning actress Helen Hunt stars in "Decoding Annie Parker," an upcoming film about the discovery of BRCA1. 

Hunt plays geneticist Mary-Claire King, who spent years researching families with histories of cancer and identified BRCA1 in 1990.

The film's trailer shows that it wasn't an easy road for King. In its opening scene, King is asked, "You believe there may be a genetic link to some breast cancers?"

"I do," she says.

"Even though virtually no one else believes this to be true?"

"That's correct," King responds.

The film tells not only King's story, but that of Annie Parker (played by Samantha Morton) who lost her mother and sister to cancer before being diagnosed herself at age 29.

"Your family did have a bit of bad luck, but there are many complex factors--" a doctor in the film tells Parker.

"It's not bad luck," she responds from her hospital bed.

The film's topic may make it a hard sell for some when other screens are showing light entertainment such as "Iron Man 3" and "Fast and Furious 6," but the filmmakers knew that going in.

"We knew there were going to be serious obstacles to getting people to watch (the film)," director Steven Bernstein said at the Dallas International Film Festival. "People's first reaction would be 'Oh, it's a film about cancer, I don't want to see it.' So we had to get the word out the film was about something bigger than that -- although cancer's a very, very big thing indeed -- but it's something about the human condition that we were trying to express. Something that people could actually come and see and feel uplifted by rather than depressed by."

"Decoding Annie Parker" has been playing at film festivals around the nation and will be screened at the Cannes Film Festival in France this month, with a general release expected in the fall. Aaron Paul, Rashida Jones, Bradley Whitford and Maggie Grace also star in the movie.

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Marcheline Bertrand and Angelina Jolie in 2001.

Just two days after Mother's Day, Angelina Jolie made a shocking announcement. The actress revealed in the New York Times that she underwent a preventive double mastectomy. The timing seems apt: Losing her own mother, Marcia Lynne "Marcheline" Bertrand, to ovarian cancer in 2007 spurred Jolie's decision to have the operation.

"My mother fought cancer for almost a decade and died at 56," Jolie wrote in her New York Times op-ed column on Tuesday. "We often speak of 'Mommy's mommy,' and I find myself trying to explain the illness that took her away from us."

While Jolie's mother acted in numerous films, including a role in former husband Jon Voight's 1982 comedy "Lookin' to Get Out," she left acting after her two children were born and never returned.

"I will never be as good a mother as she was," Jolie said of Bertrand on 60 Minutes in 2011. "I will try my best, but I don’t think I could ever be. She was grace incarnate, the most generous, loving --  she’s better than me."

Jolie was estranged from her father for most of her life, but clearly carried her mother's influence with her wherever she went: During the filming of 2008's "Changeling," Jolie told the Times that she kept photos of her late mother in the purses her character carried. 

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Marcheline Bertrand, center, in an undated photo with her children Angelina Jolie, left, and James Haven.

After leaving acting, Bertrand ran her own production house, Woods Road Productions. She executive-produced the 2005 documentary "Trudell," about her partner, Native American poet and activist John Trudell. She claimed Native American ancestry herself, and she and Trudell founded the All Tribes Foundation to benefit Native Americans. Her humanitarian leanings clearly transferred to her daughter, who was appointed as a Special Envoy for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in 2012.

After Bertrand was diagnosed with ovarian cancer in the late 1990s, she and Trudell founded the Give Love Give Life organization to raise awareness of ovarian and other gynecological cancers through music. After a long battle with her own cancer, she died on Jan 27, 2007. 

"She held out long enough to meet the first of her grandchildren and to hold them in her arms," Jolie wrote in the Times piece about her own mastectomies. "But my other children will never have the chance to know her and experience how loving and gracious she was.

Three of Jolie's six children were born before Bertrand passed away, and since then, she and partner Brad Pitt have had three more children. A year and a half after she died, Jolie had twins Knox and Vivienne, and gave Vivienne the middle name of Marcheline in her mother's honor.

"There are no words to express what an amazing woman and mother she was," Jolie and Haven told People Magazine upon the death of their mother. "She was our best friend."

A best friend who sadly fell victim to a family curse: "There is no longevity on my mother's side of the family," Jolie told Esquire in 2010. "My grandmother also died young, so my mother always thought it could happen to her. But she lived to see her grandchildren, lived to see both me and my brother in a nice place. She was a real mother that way. She waited till everyone was okay. Then she closed her eyes."

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Angelina Jolie says she has undergone a preventive double mastectomy after being told that she had an 87 percent risk of breast cancer, along with a 50 percent risk of ovarian cancer.

In an article published in the opinion section of Tuesday's New York Times, Jolie said her decision was informed by her mother's long fight against cancer. Marcheline Bertrand died in 2007 at age 56.

Jolie said she hoped that other women would find encouragement from her story. 

"I choose not to keep my story private because there are many women who do not know that they might be living under the shadow of cancer," Jolie said in the Times article. "It is my hope that they, too, will be able to get gene tested, and that if they have a high risk they, too, will know that they have strong options." 

Jolie, an Oscar-winning actress and activist, said she carries a gene, BRCA1, that increases the risk of breast and ovarian cancer. According to Jolie and a fact sheet from the Cancer Institute at Stanford Medicine, women with the BRCA1 gene have an average of a 65 percent lifetime risk for breast cancer, along with heightened risk of the cancer at an early age. Jolie is 37. 

Jolie said three months of medical procedures that the mastectomies involved were completed April 27. She said the surgery included implants to reconstruct her breasts.

She said that her partner, Brad Pitt, was present for the surgeries. She said her six children, who range in age from 11 to 4, saw nothing that made them uncomfortable.

"They can see my small scars and that’s it," Jolie wrote. "Everything else is just Mommy, the same as she always was. And they know that I love them and will do anything to be with them as long as I can."

Other famous women with the BRCA1 or BRCA2 genes have undergone preventive double mastectomies, including reality star Sharon Osbourne, wife of rocker Ozzy.

"I've had cancer before and I didn't want to live under that cloud," Osborne said in an interview last fall.

In January, Miss America contestant Allyn Rose, representing the District of Columbia, announced that she carries another genetic mutation -- not BRCA1 or BRCA2 -- and plans to have a double mastectomy after her year of serving as Miss D.C.

Friends and fans were quick to support Jolie via messages on Twitter. Actress Marlee Matlin called her "brave, honest (and) strong." And "Veronica Mars" star Kristen Bell praised Jolie's article as "admirable."

Slideshow: Angelina Jolie

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Highlights from her Oscar-winning acting career, family life with Brad Pitt and worldwide humanitarian efforts.

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Angelina Jolie in Kigali, Rwanda, on March 26, 2013

Angelina Jolie's big heart has made an even bigger difference: The UNHCR Goodwill ambassador exclusively confirms to E! News that she has opened a school in Afghanistan. Jolie chose to fund the girls-only primary school in an area just outside of Kabul, a region that traditionally favors boys' education over girls'.

Angelina picked the village as the site of the school due to its high refugee population — regional fighting caused many locals to flee when their homes were destroyed, but since the collapse of the Taliban regime, families are slowly starting to return to the once-devastated area.)

More from E!: Angelina Jolie visits Congo rescue camp—see the Oscar winner in action

The school itself currently educates between 200 and 300 girls and has already proven to have a huge impact on the local community.

Meanwhile, Jolie's not stopping there, and already has plans to open other similar institutions, vowing that this will be just the first of many. As for how Brad Pitt's fiancée is bankrolling her goodwill gesture, Jolie is releasing her personally designed jewelry collection, the Style of Jolie, to retail stores for the first time. She will use the profits from the line's no doubt hefty sales to build even more schools around the world.

UNHCR

"Beyond enjoying the artistic satisfaction of designing these jewels, we are inspired by knowing our work is also serving the mutual goal of providing for children in need," Jolie told E! News exclusively.

And how can you get your hands on the Jolie-designed range? The newly expanded collection will go on sale this week. And 100 (yes, 100) percent of the profits will go towards Jolie's new foundation, The Education Partnership for Children of Conflict.

More from E!: Angelina Jolie sets the record straight on those rumors she secretly married Brad Pitt

Jolie and her long-term jewelry designer, Robert Procop, have spent years collaborating on the collection.

"We launched this collaborative collection with the intent that 100 percent of the profits will go to charity," Procop said. "The intention was to create something beautiful but more importantly to provide children an opportunity to have an education.

"The beauty of these creations is matched by the beauty of spirit behind Angelina's most heartfelt mission—to empower children in crisis. The first funds from our collaboration together have been dedicated to the Education Partnership for Children of Conflict and we have recently completed a school in Afghanistan.

More from E!: Angelina Jolie is one of many celebs who've given back—check out these other big-hearted stars

"For me it's an honor to have the opportunity to be a part of creating this line with Angie, as we both believe every child has a right to an education."

Many of the pieces in the collection are based on a unique design Jolie created for a necklace she gifted to Pitt—a historic tablet shape. As for the rest of the line, Angelina spent countless hours exploring coloring, gemstones and different shapes she was drawn to.

More from E!: Angelina Jolie touches down in L.A. See the golden ring that sparked a million rumors!

"These designs are timeless; they reflect her chic sense of style and also feminine strength," Kam Heskin, the spokesman for the Robert Procop Design Studio, told E! News. "There are so many pieces that make this collection beautiful and unique."

The Style of Jolie will be available exclusively in Tivol, a Kansas City jeweler. Tivol will be holding a special event to launch the collection this Wednesday.

"Tivol, with their historic reputation and dedication to family values is a wonderful retail partner to launch our collection in the U.S.," Jolie told E! News.

"Tivol is a quality company known for carrying high-end jewelry brands that has been family-owned for several generations," Procop added. "The Tivol family has been so gracious and instrumental in planning this event."

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Did Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt finally get married? It's an answer you've been waiting for since the last time there was a rumor that the two had secretly tied the knot.

Today's rock-solid proof that the A-lister and her betrothed are still just engaged comes from a new TMZ video and a truth-seeking paparazzo in Los Angeles.

"Is that a wedding ring, Angelina?" the voice shouts off camera. "No, it's not," Jolie says through the back of her head as she's ushered into a waiting SUV.

So there you have it. The gold band she was wearing on her left ring finger during a recent humanitarian trip to Africa is still nothing more than just a piece of jewelry. The fact that she actually deemed the question worth answering -- after being with Pitt for 8 years -- strikes us as a bigger deal at this point than her answer.

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Angelina Jolie, what have you wrought? Ever since the actress struck the pose of poses at the 2012 Oscars red carpet, showing off her dress-cut-to-there in an awkward leg bend seen 'round the world, we've been on the lookout for copycat poses.

At the Grammy Awards Sunday night, Jennifer Lopez was the clear winner in the "Best Channels Angelina Jolie" category, striking the gam stance on the red carpet about an hour before the ceremony was set to begin.

Getty Images, AP

Jennifer Lopez struck a pose at the Grammys on Feb. 10 that was reminiscent of Angelina Jolie's famous gam reveal at the 2012 Oscars.

Who do you think pulls off the pose best? Let your voice be heard by casting a vote!

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Luigi Costantini / AP

Jolie, Pitt and children in 2010.

Is Angelina Jolie headed for an early retirement? 

Maybe, according to a new interview the 37-year-old star did with Britain's Channel 4 News. Asked about her plans for the future, the Oscar-winning actress revealed that she would likely put the brakes on her movie career in the not-too-distant future to focus on taking care of her family. (Jolie and fiance Brad Pitt have six children: Maddox, 11, Pax, 9, Zahara, 7, Shiloh, 6, and twins Knox and Vivienne, 4.)

PHOTOS: Aww! Brad and Angelina pack on the PDA

"I think I'm going to have to give up acting as the kids hit the teenage years," the Maleficent star said, explaining that there would be "too much to manage at home."

"I've enjoyed being an actress," she continued. "And I am so grateful to the job. I've had great experiences, and I have even be able to tell stories and be a part of stories that mattered...It's a really lucky profession to be a part of. But if it went away tomorrow, I would be very happy to be home with my children."

PHOTOS: How Brad and Angelina fell in love

The former UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador -- recently appointed UNHCR Special Envoy -- added that she hoped to devote more time to her humanitarian work.

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"I wake up in the morning as a mum, and I turn on the news like everybody else, and I see what's happening, and I want to be part of the world in a positive way," she said, noting that her philanthropic efforts had become a much bigger part of her life ever since she adopted son Maddox in 2002.

PHOTOS: Angelina goes global

Jolie is not alone in her desire to explore other avenues. Last year, her longtime love also hinted at retirement, telling Australia's "60 Minutes" that he might want to stop acting within three years.

"I wasn't actually putting an exact deadline on my expiration date, but I see it coming," Pitt clarified later at a "Moneyball" press conference in November 2011. "I just have other interests."

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Angelina Jolie stars in "Maleficent," and will be joined by three of her children.

Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt's children are following in their famous footsteps and heading to the big screen! Two months after a rep for Walt Disney Studios confirmed 4-year-old Vivienne Jolie-Pitt will play the child version of Elle Fanning's Princess Aurora in the live-action movie "Maleficent," Us Weekly has learned that two of the A-list couple's other children, Pax, 8, and Zahara, 7, will also appear in the fantasy flick; a rep for Disney had no comment.

Photos from Us: How Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie built a life together

"They have smaller parts," reveals a source, who adds that Pax and Zahara won't have speaking roles. "Shiloh was supposed to be in it, too, but she was bored and not in the mood during the day her part was supposed to happen, so she ended up not being in the film." (Six-year-old Shiloh did, however, have a brief role in Pitt's 2008 film "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.")

"Maleficent" is a reimagining of the classic fairy tale "Sleeping Beauty," told from the villainess' perspective; Jolie plays the titular role. The film also stars Juno Temple, Sam Riley, Brenton Thwaites, India Eisley, Miranda Richardson and Kenneth Cranham. It's slated for a March 2014 release.

Video from Us: Angelina Jolie explains how she avoided leading a "shallow" life

"It's a really great script, and I'm having a lot of fun. I've already got my horns fitted," Academy Award winner Jolie told Entertainment Weekly in March, three months before shooting began. "My kids are very happy."

Photos from Us: Angelina Jolie's word travels

Jolie and Pitt, 48, are also parents to son Maddox, 11, and Knox, 4.

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Brad Pitt.

Brad Pitt has joined the growing list of Hollywood talent, such as Tom Cruise and Hugh Jackman, who have expressed a desire to work in Bollywood.

GALLERY: Outtakes from Brad Pitt's THR cover shoot 

"Indian cinema seems to be growing very well at its own pace. I would love to work in a Bollywood film as there is so much drama and color in the films there,” Pitt told Indian news agency IANS in an email interview. “The filmmaking, I hear, has evolved a lot in India, and of late we have witnessed some good films making a presence at the Oscars and the world stage.” 

Added the 48-year-old actor: “That tells you a lot about the quality of the actors and the films. You never know when I might decide to work in a Bollywood film and do one of those dance numbers with the whole crew in the backdrop.”

Pitt has visited India, most notably as a co-producer on 2007's "A Mighty Heart" starring Angelina Jolie. She portrayed Mariane Pearl, the wife of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl who was kidnapped and murdered in 2002 in Pakistan. The film was partly filmed in Mumbai and other locations.

STORY: The many revolutions of Brad Pitt

Pitt almost had a chance to work with top Bollywood actress and 1994 Miss World Aishwarya Rai Bachchan when she was offered a part in director Wolfgang Peterson's 2007 epic "Troy,"  which she turned down. “Given a chance, I would like to work with Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, because she's a versatile actor," Pitt said. "She is one of the most popular actresses of Bollywood, who has achieved huge acclaim in the west for her style, beauty and acting skills. I think we missed an opportunity to be cast together for 'Troy,'” he said.

Pitt also congratulated India's version of “Brangelina," top actor Saif Ali Khan and actress Kareena Kapoor, who are going to be married in October. “To be honest, I really think Saif and Kareena can be called Bollywood's sexiest couple so far," said Pitt. "I am glad to know they are getting married soon. I wish them all the success for a happy married life."

Pitt's upcoming release, mob drama "Killing Them Softly," will open in India on Oct. 5.

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The Syrian civil war has been raging for more than a year and a half, and Tuesday morning a fresh face stepped into the mix, as Angelina Jolie visited the Al Zaatri refugee camp near the country's border with Jordan. TODAY's Ann Curry was on hand to find out what the actress saw, and what it all meant.

"It's been a very heavy experience, because oftentimes you come to these camps and ... very rarely do you ... meet them as they cross the border and you get to know people the moment they become a refugee," said Jolie in a press conference. "The moment they've forever lost their home, their livelihood, their education, everything they have been is gone, and when I ask them, 'What did you bring?' they say 'This' (plucks at her shirt) 'The shirt on my back.'"

Jolie has long volunteered for humanitarian causes, and currently serves as a Special Envoy to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. When Curry asked her about the frustration she feels about being unable to reach people inside Syria, Jolie said she had been speaking for the last two days with Syrians about what they witnessed. 

Handout / Getty Images

UNHCR Special Envoy Angelina Jolie meets with refugees on the Jordanian border minutes after they crossed from Syria on Sept. 10.

"What they describe on the ground, hearing it from them, is so horrific," said Jolie. "It is a horrific situation and a very, very critical time. So for all the politicians out there -- and we are not them -- we hope and pray that they figure out something soon because people are dying, hundreds and hundreds of people are dying every day."

Curry said more than 200,000 people have fled over the border into Jordan alone. She will have more to report from Syria on Tuesday on NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams.

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Rumors of a weekend wedding between Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie sent photographers and reporters rushing to the couple's chateau in southern France on Thursday, but local officials said they had no knowledge of any impending nuptials.

Local newspaper Var Matin categorically denied a France 3 TV report that the wedding could take place on Saturday and village hall staff said no banns had been published. 

Security was tight at the 17th-century Chateau Miraval in the Var, which the couple, dubbed Brangelina by celebrity media, bought in 2008. No frantic preparations were visible, according to a Reuters reporter at the scene. 

"We don't know anything about it," Patrick Mareschi, deputy culture secretary of the nearby village of Correns, told Reuters. 

"Under French law couples have to get married at the town hall. Unlike with a religious wedding, there's no way a couple can hold a civil ceremony at their own home," he added. 

But one source told The Hollywood Reporter  that "it's really happening," and said that there's a big tent at Chateau Miraval.

Numerous outlets have speculated that if there is a bash at the Pitt-Jolie estate this weekend, it could be in honor of his parents' 50th wedding anniversary instead, and not a Brangelina wedding.

Since Pitt and Jolie announced their engagement earlier this year, rumors have been swirling that they could tie the knot this summer at their French estate. 

Representatives of the Hollywood power couple did not return calls for comment. 

Reuters and The Hollywood Reporter contributed to this report.

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Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie.

Looks like Jude Law, Sienna Miller and Hugh Grant now have some high-profile company. Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie were revealed Tuesday to be among the victims of the sweeping News of the World phone-hacking scandal, whose far-reaching aftershocks led to the collapse of a historic British paper and to hundred of millions of dollars in payouts to its victims, including a slew of A-list celebs.

MORE: Jude Law among tabloid phone-hacking victims set to bank millions in payout

Per the BBC, the Brangelina revelations surfaced as prosecutors announced in London Tuesday morning that eight people will face criminal charges in connection with the scandal, including former News International executive and News of the World editor Rebekah Brooks, as well as Andy Coulson, one-time communications director to Prime Minister David Cameron.

They were slapped with a total of 19 charges, including "conspiring to intercept communications without lawful authority" from October 2000 to August 2006. More than 600 people have been identified as victims in the massive scandal, including a teenager who was kidnapped and later found dead.

Two individuals in particular -- former chief reporter Neville Thurlbeck and former assistant editor James Weatherup -- were named in connection with the Jolie-Pitt hacking, and were "charged on suspicion of conspiracy to intercept the voicemails" of the couple.

MORE: Charlotte church scores $950,000 payout over phone-hacking scandal

In a statement, Brooks asserted her innocence. "I am not guilty of these charges. I did not authorise, nor was I aware of, phone hacking under my editorship," she said. "I will vigorously defend these allegations."

PHOTOS: Court appearances

To date, a slew of celebs have scored massive settlements. Last year, Law received roughly $205,000, while his ex-girlfriend Miller was subsequently awarded $162,000. Charlotte Church nabbed $950,000, one of the highest awarded to a victim of the sprawling scandal.

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