Constance Zimmer has revealed she quietly battled breast cancer for months while continuing to promote one of the biggest projects of her career.
The 55-year-old actress, known for Entourage, UnREAL and Love Story: John F. Kennedy Jr. & Carolyn Bessette, opened up Sunday about being diagnosed with Stage 0 breast cancer earlier this year.
Zimmer said she received the life-changing news on March 13 while she was away from home.
Her doctor told her over Zoom that she had ductal carcinoma in situ, commonly known as DCIS.
“The silence was deafening,” Zimmer recalled.
DCIS is considered the earliest stage of breast cancer. The abnormal cells are contained within the milk ducts and have not spread into surrounding breast tissue.
Zimmer said one of her first thoughts was how she would break the news to her family.
She immediately called her husband, director Russ Lamoureux, before returning home to tell their daughter in person.
The actress said the emotional impact of the diagnosis quickly became overwhelming as she began speaking with multiple doctors and weighing her treatment options.
Zimmer said she initially felt as though a mastectomy was being presented as the quickest way to remove the cancer.
But she wanted to know whether it was possible to treat the disease while preserving her breast.
She eventually found a surgeon who was able to perform a lumpectomy.
The process was not simple.
Zimmer underwent three surgeries over three consecutive weeks before doctors successfully removed the cancerous tissue while preserving her breast.
She then underwent radiation therapy.
All the while, Zimmer was maintaining a very public schedule.
She was promoting FX and Hulu’s Love Story: John F. Kennedy Jr. & Carolyn Bessette, in which she played Ann Marie Messina, the mother of Carolyn Bessette.
Zimmer later earned an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie for the performance.
That meant the actress was attending press events and celebrating one of the biggest professional honors of her career while privately going through cancer treatment.
Zimmer said she deliberately kept the diagnosis largely out of the public eye while navigating the experience with her family.
She has now revealed that she is cancer-free.
Looking back at the past seven months, Zimmer described the experience as an extraordinary swing between hospital visits and glamorous career moments.
The actress chose Breast Cancer Awareness Month to publicly share her story.
She also used the announcement to encourage women to stay on top of routine medical screenings and pay attention to their health.
Zimmer is expected to discuss her diagnosis and treatment in greater detail on an upcoming episode of her Talk Fifty to Me podcast.
The podcast, which focuses on women navigating life in their 50s, will feature a conversation about Zimmer’s experience and the decisions she faced after receiving her diagnosis.
For Zimmer, the revelation closes a chapter she spent months keeping private.
Behind the red carpets, press appearances and Emmy celebration was a cancer battle that almost no one outside her family knew she was fighting.