Amanda Peet and Hoda Kotb share something in common, which helped them form a “bond” during a new interview, according to Parade. Both stars have been diagnosed with — and survived — breast cancer.
The discussion comes after Peet revealed her diagnosis in an essay for The New Yorker on Saturday, March 21, in which she wrote, “Both of my parents were in hospice, on opposite coasts. Then I found out that I had breast cancer.”
Amanda Explained Why Her Diagnosis Was ‘Extremely Lucky’
During Peet’s conversation with Kotb, as well as Craig Melvin for the “Today” show, the actress promoted her new projects, “Fantasy Life” and “Your Friends & Neighbors.” She also addressed her New Yorker essay and her choice to go public with her breast cancer diagnosis, saying, “You know, I didn’t really have an agenda. Maybe it was a way to just kind of cope and contain what was insanity — this kind of intersection of all of these big life moments.”
Despite the diagnosis, Peet revealed that she was “extremely lucky” due to the fact that she has a less aggressive kind of cancer. Beyond that, she added, “And obviously I have great health insurance because of SAG [The Screen Actors Guild], and my husband and I have a nanny, so there were a lot of people around to take care of me, but not everybody has that. So I’ve also been giving that a lot of thought.”
She continued by noting that her disease is still “worrisome” because it’s an “understudied” form of cancer that is lobular. “Invasive lobular carcinoma is a type of breast cancer that begins as a growth of cells in the milk-producing glands of the breast,” according to the Mayo Clinic. “These glands are called lobules.”
Peet stated, “We need more research, and I think that’s going to be a critical thing as we go forward.”
Hoda Knows ‘the Feeling of Hearing’ Breast Cancer Amid a Diagnosis
GettyKotb “has spoken extensively about her own experience with the disease,” according to Today, and was again willing to open up about being diagnosed with breast cancer in 2007.
“When you hear the words ‘breast cancer,’ and I mean it happened to me a while ago, but I do know the feeling of hearing the words,” Kotb said. “But now I feel like it’s sort of different — you know, that there is a clear path forward.”
When Kotb received the diagnosis, she “underwent a mastectomy and has been cancer-free ever since,” per Today.
As the interview with Peet was ending, Kotb told her, “You’re such a lovely person. Like, I feel like I want to be friends with you right now while you’re talking.”
Peet responded by saying, “I want to be friends with you, too.”
