Three stars, three talented women, and three friends. Jennifer Aniston, Demi Moore and Alicia Keys are Glamour‘s October 2020 cover girls. In the interview with the magazine, they talk about ‘Five’, a series of films about women and breast cancer airing on Lifetime on October 10, and the message they want to convey through this special project. Each of them has directed a film showing the impact breast cancer has upon women’s lives, families and friendships.
Jennifer Aniston, who directed ‘Mia’, explains the necessity of telling stories about breast cancer. “Because we don’t yet have a cure, and cancer has grown 30,000 snakes out of its head. We need to go at this Medusa with all the firepower we’ve got, from research and legislation, to awareness and early detection, to support groups and compassion for everyone who walks through this. We need to show up for them, to talk to them, to not be afraid,” she says.
The 42-year-old actress also speaks about the things she looks for in a relationship. She told ‘Glamour’ that, “OK, in all seriousness, I would say I couldn’t be in a relationship without equality, generosity, integrity, spirit, kindness and humor. And awesomeness.” On being 40, Jennifer says that, “Being this side of 40 feels like what I should have felt being this side of 25: in my body, in my heart, happy with my life, and OK with whatever bumps in the road present themselves.”
Demi Moore directed the Five film ‘Charlotte’, saying the story of a little girl who watches her mother die of breast cancer and decides to help others fight the disease.
On what made her direct this film, Demi says that, “I’ve known people affected by breast cancer, and since I finished the project, someone in our family has also been diagnosed. But I think that so often there is that “out of sight, out of mind” feeling, like breast cancer is happening to other people, not you. Before this project came up, even I really didn’t want to pay attention. I feel that this came to me to make me pay attention. What I’ve learned from all the work Ashton and I do is that we so often don’t address any cause with enough urgency.”
Speaking about what makes her giddy, the 48-year-old actress admits that, “I’m an old-school romantic, so I get giddy when Ashton shows me another way of saying ‘I love you’ — any little thought or gesture that’s playful or sweet. We leave Post-it notes for each other; some have been sticking up for five or six years! For me, it’s the small things. The first day of filming Charlotte, Ashton sent this bouquet of soft blue flowers with a card that said, ‘I believe in you.’ I put them in this little room that I parked myself in while we were shooting in the rest of the house, and that was the room that we shot my movie’s final scene in.”
Alicia Keys directed ‘Lili’, a film about an independent 35-year-old woman who is diagnosed with breast cancer. “Kristin [Hahn] and Jen called me up; after I read the scripts, I felt like this was something important, and I wanted to be a part of it. I chose Lili because she’s close to my age and I understood the family dynamic. I had an immediate idea of what I could bring to it,” the singer told ‘Glamour’.
In the interview with the magazine, Alicia also dishes on her relationship with her husband, Swizz Beatz. “It’s beautiful because rarely, I think, do you find a relationship where you can experience things equally. In fact, I think that’s my favorite word and the most important word when it comes to relationships: equality. And that’s what we’ve been able to find. We encourage each other equally. We’re excited for each other,” she confesses.
The 30-year-old singer also recalls the moment when they fell in love. “I do remember the exact moment. If I told you, I would have to kill you, but it was something that he planned, and he planned it so beautifully and thoughtfully that in that moment I remember thinking to myself, Oh my God, I’m so in love with him,” she told ‘Glamour’.
On what makes her giddy, Alicia admits that, “Yeah, my son, Egypt, makes me super giddy, especially when he laughs. His laugh makes me laugh like a maniac!”
Photos courtesy of Glamour