Oscar winner Anjelica Huston is singing her own praises, and rightfully so. The “Addams Family” and “Witches” acting veteran revealed this week she is a cancer survivor.
“I managed to survive it, and I’m proud of myself,” she told People in an interview published Wednesday.
The 73-year-old “Prizzi’s Honor” star got candid about her private cancer journey, which she said began in 2019. Huston said she was diagnosed with an undisclosed form of cancer after her film “John Wick: Chapter 3 — Parabellum” premiered in May 2019. “That was a very serious moment for me,” she recalled to People.
Huston said learning about her diagnosis shocked her and made her conscious about “what I shouldn’t do, of the places I shouldn’t go.” Though she did not go into too much detail about her treatment, Huston said her cancer battle discouraged her from taking life too seriously and that she is now “in the clear.”
Huston also did not disclose much about the treatment she received, but said her condition encouraged her to “try not to make a big deal out of things.” Six years since her diagnosis, Huston told People she has been cancer-free for years.
“I’m at the four-year mark, and that means so much to me,” she said. “It’s a fantastic thing. I’m very proud of myself, and I’ve been very lucky.”
Huston, whose prolific film and TV career began in the late ’60s, said she has recently enjoyed her time smelling the roses — literally. Upon learning she was cancer-free the “Grifters” star said she enjoyed a stroll in her garden “and smelled the roses and thought how clever I was.”
Huston, whose father was the high-profile “Maltese Falcon” and “African Queen” director John Huston, said she gets regular scans and has had “wonderful” doctors helping her out.
Her father directed “Prizzi’s Honor,” the 1985 film that won her the supporting actor Oscar in 1986. He died a year later.
“My dad always used to say the important thing is interest,” Huston told The Times in May 2019. “I have a number of interests and they’re not all about acting.” It’s unclear whether she had received her diagnosis by that time.
The “Addams Family” actor talked about her cancer journey and shrugged off talk of retirement while promoting the BBC miniseries “Towards Zero,” the latest addition to her acting career. The three-part show is an adaptation of Agatha Christie’s 1944 novel of the same name and features Huston as a bed-ridden widow.
The “Royal Tenenbaums” and “Lonesome Dove” actor admitted that it can be challenging to speak about her cancer battle “for the obvious reasons,” but ultimately “there’s a lot to be said for talking about it and getting it out there and celebrating the fact that one’s come through.”
“Life is tenuous and wonderful. It also gives you the idea that the world is big and you can somehow match up to it,” she added. “That you’re ready for whatever happens.”
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