Kelly Preston, wife of John Travolta and mother of Jett, Ella, and Benjamin Travolta, died on July 12, 2020 after a two-year battle with breast cancer. Before her passing, she continued to work with her final project being Off the Rails. While filming, Preston kept her diagnosis and battle entirely private.
Confirmation of this choice comes from her co-star Sally Phillips, who spoke about it on Loose Women, according to Mirror. Phillips also discussed the reasoning behind this decision, citing other modern examples.
Kelly Preston kept her cancer diagnosis and battle secret
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Phillips confirmed that neither she nor any of her Off the Rails peers had been told that Preston had received a positive diagnosis. “That’s what people do,” she went on, “they go through it on their own because of worries about insurance for the film, and working again afterwards.”
RELATED: John Travolta Honors Late Kelly Preston’s Final Film Premiere With Instagram Post
She pointed to the late Chadwick Boseman, who died from colon cancer, and Helen McCrory, who passed away from cancer, as “a couple of high profile examples” of people who “didn’t tell anyone.”
Phillips discusses working with Preston
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“She was so bloomin’ beautiful,” Phillips said of Preston. The two starred in the comedy-drama about women coming together to honor a late friend’s final wish, this time bringing the friend’s daughter for the tradition. Phillips added that Preston was “so vibrant and you would never have known. She was so professional.”
Travolta and his family spent the following year navigating their grief and heartbreak. There is still an adjustment and the pain never fades, but Travolta now has wisdom to pass onto others: “Living in mourning is something personal. The first thing you should do when you experience grief is to go to a place where you can mourn, without any interference. Even though it’s great to have company, sometimes it becomes like you’re helping them rather than putting yourself to work overcoming feelings of loss and grief.”