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Cynthia Nixon: A Success Story
By : Jane Louise Boursaw & Beatrice Nowotny
Cynthia Nixon has been making headlines this year, thanks to the phenomenal success of the film Sex and the City, which premiered in theaters May 30. But perhaps even closer to her heart is her involvement with Susan G. Komen for the CureŽ. She's the official ambassador for the organization and a breast cancer survivor herself.
"They found a tiny bit of breast cancer in my right breast in October 2006," she says. "It didn't make me happy, of course, but it didn't seem like a disaster. My mother had breast cancer twice; once 30 years ago, once 15 years ago. She did what I did. She had an operation, she had radiation, and she was fine."
Nixon didn't announce her cancer at the time because she was undergoing treatment and also doing a play. "I didn't want people to come to the play and just be thinking about that while they're watching me on stage. And I didn't want there to be photographers there. I had six-and-a-half weeks of radiation in the hospital. When I finally announced it, I wanted to be a little away from it, so that I could say to people, 'Yes, it happened, and this is what I did and everything seems to be fine.'"
But it was important for her to go public afterward. When Susan G. Komen for the CureŽ approached Nixon, the organization didn't realize that she'd actually had the disease. They knew her mother was a survivor and that she'd spoken a lot about it. "When they approached me, I thought, 'Well, this is perfect. This is the way I can tell people I had it.' And I also felt that I had such a good story to tell, which is that they found my cancer on a completely routine mammogram—no suspicion that anything was wrong. They caught it very early, and if you catch breast cancer before it spreads, there's a 98 percent survival rate."
Susan G. Komen for the CureŽ is one of the largest breast cancer organizations in the world, and it's gained steam every year since its inception in 1982. American Airlines is doing its part to support the cause, helping raise more than $600,000 through a Susan G. Komen Miles for the Cure campaign, which ran from April 16 through May 31. Members of the American Airlines AAdvantageŽ Travel Awards program earned five miles for every dollar contributed to Susan G. Komen for the CureŽ, with a minimum $25 donation. More than 6,500 AAdvantage members participated.
"The campaign's results speak volumes about the generosity and caring of American's AAdvantage members and their willingness to help Susan G. Komen for the CureŽ make a difference in the lives of so many people," says Katrina McGhee, vice president of marketing of Susan G. Komen for the CureŽ. "A woman dies from breast cancer every 75 seconds worldwide. We could not fulfill our promise to end breast cancer forever without the help of dedicated corporate partners like American Airlines that help us spread our message globally and fund vital research to help fight this disease."
Based on the success of the program, American Airlines will continue the Miles for the Cure campaign until $1 million is raised for Susan G. Komen for the CureŽ. American Airlines has supported Susan G. Komen for the CureŽ for more than 20 years as a national sponsor of the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure series, as well as being the official carrier for Race for the Cure events. In 2008, there will be more than 100 race events, with more than 1 million participants, making it the world's largest and most successful education and fundraising event for breast cancer. To find an upcoming race or for more information, visit komen.org.
As for Nixon, she faced the disease with strength and a positive attitude. "I did make some changes in my life. I became vegetarian for about six months. I eat a lot less red meat than I used to. I drink less alcohol than I used to. I eat many more a variety of vegetables. I drink carrot juice.
I made some changes in my diet. But it didn't frighten me. I didn't think it was a disaster. I thought it was something that was very treatable."
As far as Sex and the City goes, Nixon says the biggest change she's felt is more people recognizing her. "I have many more people on a daily basis recognizing me on the street. Mostly, I have more professional options, because people think they'll come to see the play or the movie or turn on the TV because they like me and know me. And also, there are certain jobs I don't get, because they think I'm too much like Miranda, I'll take the audience out of whatever they're watching and make them think of Sex and the City."
But she sets the record straight that she's really not much like Miranda. "I think she's extremely confrontational, and I think I am not. I much prefer to take a softer approach and only say something unpleasant if I really, really need to."
Look for Nixon in Roundabout Theatre Company's off-Broadway production of Lisa Loomer's Distracted, helmed by Mark Brokaw, in the spring of 2009. The play follows a mother struggling to learn whether her son has attention deficit disorder. "She's trying to figure it out, and it has its kind of forcible elements of going to all the different experts and trying to figure out the cure," says Nixon. "And it just keeps building until it becomes a metaphor for our modern world."
Nixon won a 2006 Tony for her turn in the Manhattan Theatre Club production of Rabbit Hole. Recent stage roles also include The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie and The Women.
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