Benjamin Bratt shares about wife’s breast cancer diagnosis to promote regular

Actor Benjamin Bratt is out on the promotional trail ahead of the release of his newest project, the HBO Max miniseries DMZ, which also stars Rosario Dawson in leading lady role.

But during a stop on Today, Bratt opened up about his wife’s breast cancer diagnosis just after COVID-19 was deemed a pandemic.

Normally, Bratt and his wife, actor and former model Talisa Soto, would have kept such private news close to the vest, but in this case they thought they should go public to raise awareness about the importance of regular breast screenings.

Family matters: Benjamin Bratt, 58, opened up about his wife Talisa Soto’s breast cancer diagnosis during a promotional stop on Today

‘This is something I typically would keep close-held, but through the pandemic, through self-exam and then by going to her yearly mammogram, she discovered that she was positive for breast cancer,’ the actor, 58, said.    

The Law & Order alum revealed that his wife urged him to share her story in hopes that it would remind and inspire women about the importance of getting yearly screenings.

‘You have to self-advocate for yourself and take care of yourself,’ he said of women being proactive about their well-being. ‘Not just eating well, but you have to get to the doctor and make these exams a part of your regular life.’ 

Bratt went on to share that Soto, 54, is ‘doing great’ after treatments, although he confessed there have been some side effects. 

Making a difference: The actor, who’s out promoting his new series DMZ, said his wife urged him to go public with her breast cancer diagnosis in hopes it will inspire other women to get regular breast screenings

Getting personal: ‘This is something I typically would keep close-held, but through the pandemic, through self-exam and then by going to her yearly mammogram, she discovered that she was positive for breast cancer,’ the actor, 58, said.

‘The medication rocks the hormonal system a little bit, but the good news is, she was found to be cancer-free at this point. So we’re just on guard to make sure it doesn’t come back.’ 

Soto’s diagnosis and subsequent treatments have actually inspired Bratt to keep up with his own health and well-being checkups.

‘I immediately got on getting my colonoscopy, which I had held off for too many years,’ the Demolition Man star admitted, adding, ‘So it’s something to be thoughtful about.’  

According to the American Breast Cancer Foundation, women should learn how to do proper self-exams and then begin examining their own breasts in their 20s. 

The organization also recommends women in their 20s and 30s have their breasts clinically examined as part of their yearly health check-up, while ladies over 40 should have an annual mammogram.

Inspired: Soto’s diagnosis and subsequent treatments have actually inspired Bratt to keep up with his own health and well-being checkups.

Gift of life: Bratt went on to share that Soto, 54, is ‘doing great’ and ‘cancer free’ after treatments, although he confessed there have been some side effects to the treatments

Bratt and Soto, who are the proud parents of daughter Sophia, 19, and son Mateo, 16, are closing in on a major milestone: they’ll be celebrating their 20th wedding anniversary on April 13.      

‘My wife Talisa is very easy to love. First of all, she is, like, from another planet beautiful,’ he said of her striking looks, before sharing that she actually ‘vogues in her sleep.’ 

‘I’ll wake up in the morning and I wipe the drool off my face, and I look over at her on the pillow and she’s like this,’ he joked, while striking a model-like pose.

He went on to add that Soto is ‘truly an amazing woman’ and that she’s ‘as beautiful inside as out.’

Milestone: Bratt and Soto are going to celebrate their 20th wedding anniversary on April 13

Bratt’s leading lady: Soto is a former model and actress, who starred as Bond girl Lupe Lamora in the 1989 007 film Licence to Kill (1989), and as Kitana in Mortal Kombat (1995) and the sequel (1997); she’s pictured in New York City in May 2014

For the upcoming series DMZ, which is based ion the comic book series of the same name by Brian Wood and Riccardo Burchielli, Bratt stars opposite of Dawson, who plays Alma Ortega, a medic in New York City who becomes a symbol of hope in a demilitarized Manhattan Island.

All this is happening as Ortega is trying to find her lost son during the Second American Civil War.

DMZ, which also stars Freddy Miyares, Hooon Lee, Jordan Preston Carter, Venus Ariel, Jade Wu, Rey Gallegos, Agam Darshi and Juani Feliz, is set to begin streaming on HBO Max on March 17.                   

Coming soon: Bratt stars alongside Rosario Dawson in the upcoming HBO Max dystopian miniseries DMZ, which premieres on March 17