The actress underwent a double mastectomy and reconstructive surgery after receiving the diagnosis in 2015
Credit: Michael Buckner/Variety via Getty
NEED TO KNOW
- Rita Wilson said she had two requests for her husband, Tom Hanks, after being diagnosed with breast cancer back in 2015
- Speaking at an event promoting her upcoming album, Sound of a Woman, on Tuesday, April 28, Wilson insisted that if anything were to happen to her following the diagnosis, she would want Hanks to “be sad for a very, very long time”
- However, she added that she’d also want him to celebrate her life and throw her a party
Rita Wilson had an important message for her husband, Tom Hanks, after she was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2015.
While speaking at the Sound of a Woman: Rita Wilson in Conversation with Demi Moore event hosted at New York City's 92NY on Tuesday, April 28, Wilson, 69, shared that she wanted Hanks to be “sad for a very long time” if anything were to happen to her, but ultimately wanted him to also celebrate her life.
Wilson, who underwent a double mastectomy and reconstructive surgery in 2015 after "invasive" cancer was found, mentioned the diagnosis to Moore during Tuesday’s talk and performance, which was held ahead of the release of her upcoming album, Sound of a Woman.
The Sleepless in Seattle actress, who married Hanks, 69, in 1988, said that she wrote her 2019 track “Throw Me a Party” following her breast cancer diagnosis, adding on Tuesday, “I’m here. Yay!”
Credit: Jamie McCarthy/Getty
Wilson shared, “The song … it came out of this, this story I've told before, but if you haven't heard it, it was, when you get the diagnosis and you're like, ‘I don't know, I don't know what's gonna happen, but I hope I'm still here, you know, in a few years.’ "
“But I said to Tom, I'm like, ‘Okay, if, if something happens and I go first, I just have two requests. And one is that you should be sad for a very, very long time,’ " she continued of the track, which she wrote with Liz Rose and Kristian Bush.
Wilson went on, “The second one was throw me a party. I want it to be a celebration of life. I want it to be about people telling stories and joy and, remembering me in that way. And I think people, a lot of people want that, you know? I think there's room for that."
The musician previously made the comments in a March 2019 Instagram post, writing at the time, “Four years ago when I was diagnosed with breast cancer, I had so many different thoughts. You’re scared, anxious, you think about your own mortality.”
“So I had a serious discussion with my husband that if anything happens, I wanted him to be super sad for a very long time 😊 and I’d also like a party, a celebration,” she continued, adding that “out of that story,” she wrote “Throw Me a Party.”
Credit: Ben Montgomery/Getty
Wilson’s latest comments about her health journey come after she marked 10 years of being cancer-free on March 31, 2025, speaking out about the milestone in an Instagram video.
“It's a celebration for me. March 31st marks 10 years of being cancer-free,” Wilson said in the clip. “10 years. And I am so deeply grateful.”
“I'm so thankful to my doctors. To my friends, to my family. The gratitude is overwhelming. Didn't always feel this way. And you know that, anybody who's going through [it, or] who's survived knows that it's an up and down, like, hamster wheel. But then you get to this point,” she shared.
Wilson acknowledged that she doesn’t “talk about it much,” but shared that she was posting about the anniversary because “I think it's important to celebrate good news.”
“I am thinking of anybody out there who might be going through some difficulties. You're in my thoughts and prayers. Anyways, God bless you all," she concluded in the video.
Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.
The Asteroid City actress was 58 when she was diagnosed with breast cancer over 11 years ago, and as she told PEOPLE exclusively at the time, she underwent a double mastectomy and reconstructive surgery.
Wilson shared that she’d been living with LCIS (lobular carcinoma in situ), and monitoring it “vigilantly” through yearly mammograms and breast MRIs. But, she said at the time that “after two surgical breast biopsies, PLCIS (pleomorphic carcinoma in situ) was discovered. I mention this because there is much unknown about PLCIS and it is often found alongside DCIS (ductal carcinoma in situ). I was relieved when the pathology showed no cancer.”
A friend then suggested she get a second opinion. “My gut told me that was the thing to do. A different pathologist found invasive lobular carcinoma. His diagnosis of cancer was confirmed by yet another pathologist,” Wilson added.
She continued to PEOPLE at the time, “I share this to educate others that a second opinion is critical to your health. You have nothing to lose if both opinions match up for the good, and everything to gain if something that was missed is found, which does happen. Early diagnosis is key.”
Wilson's sixth studio album, Sound of a Woman, will be released May 1.
Read the full article here
