Christina Applegate

Actress 

Christina Applegate has endeared herself to audiences and received accolades for her strength and versatility in theatre, film and television. With her recent Peoples Choice nomination for Favorite TV Female, and her recent Emmy Award nomination for "Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy" for Samantha Who?, the top-rated new scripted series for 2007/2008 has returned to primetime with strong ratings. Additionally, Applegate has garnered Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild Award nominations for her role on Samantha Who? In 2003 she received the "Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series" Emmy nomination for her role on Friends, an award she won in 2004. 2005 brought her a Tony Award nomination for "Best Leading Actress In A Musical" for her Broadway role in Sweet Charity and in 1999, she picked up her first Golden Globe nomination for "Best Performance by an Actress in a TV-Series" for her role on Jesse.

In April 2008, at 36 years old, Applegate was diagnosed with breast cancer. The day after her diagnosis, she went to see an oncologist and a surgeon. Then, she received more life-changing news. A test for the BRCA gene -- also known as the "breast cancer gene" -- came back positive. Applegate was given two options: go forward with the radiation treatments and continue testing for the rest of her life or have both breasts removed. Christina made the dramatic decision to have a bilateral mastectomy. In July 2008, Christina went through with the surgery, which has left physical and emotional scars. "It can be very painful," she says. "It's also a part of you that's gone, so you go through a grieving process and a mourning process." On the bright side, she feels victorious in the fight against breast cancer. "I have taken a very progressive stance in the rest of my life," she says. "For that, I'm really grateful."

Christina now looks at her health scare as a blessing. "I am a 36-year-old person with breast cancer, and not many people know that that happens to women my age or women in their 20s," she says. "This is my opportunity now to go out and fight as hard as I can for early detection." As she's learned, early detection may not come from a mammogram. Christina says she will fight for women to have access to MRIs and genetic testing. Christina's health scare has shifted her priorities completely. "[There's] this need and this desire to make every single day count," she says. "I used to say... 'Don't sweat the small stuff -- not even the big stuff.' At the end of the day, none of it matters but your own joy, your own spiritual journey, your loved ones... These are the things you've got to cherish, love and embrace."