Every Sunday in October -- in support of National Breast Cancer Awareness Month -- Sharing Miracles, a 30-minute public affairs television program that tells the compelling and inspirational stories of real patients, will feature Academy Award-winning actress and patient advocate Marcia Gay Harden. Sharing Miracles now shows on 185 television stations across the United States.
Harden has enchanted audiences and critics alike with her deft portrayal of difficult characters in hit movies such as Miller's Crossing, Meet
Joe Black, Pollock, Into the Wild, The First Wives Club, Space Cowboys, Mona Lisa Smile, The Mist and
Clint Eastwood's film Mystic River. Her work in television has included appearances on long-running shows Law and Order: Special Victims Unit and Homicide: Life on the Street, and she has made multiple appearances on both The Tonight Show with
Jay Leno and The Late Show with David Letterman. More recently, Harden found inspiration for her role as patient advocate during character research for the film Rails and Ties.
"My character in Rails and Ties had Stage Four breast cancer and a mastectomy, so as part ofresearching my role we brought a group of breast cancer survivors to set," Harden explains. "Meeting these women was pretty transformative for me and helped me realize what a problem breast cancer is. One in eight women will be diagnosed with breast cancer, so in portraying women with breast cancer in some of my movies, it's a chance to bring real issues like that to the consciousness of America."
Harden's appearance on Sharing Miracles coincides with National Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and in the latest episode she shares her passion for patient advocacy. She says on the show, "My job as an advocate is to encourage women to get mammograms, because prevention is the first step. Cancer doesn't know color, creed, finances, or background; it affects us all. It's really been a pleasure to speak up about the importance of breast cancer prevention."
The Academy Award winner's portrayal of breast cancer victims in her films has given Harden a chance to help patients nationwide. She says, "I also played a woman struggling with breast cancer in my recent movie, Home (http://www.homethemotionpicture.com/). It's tough to portray a character with cancer, but for me, the tougher the role the better. In this case, with cancer, as an actor you know you're doing something that will speak to so many people. These roles may be difficult, but they have provided me with a wonderful opportunity to help people."
According to a recent survey conducted by the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA), more than 750 medicines are currently being developed to treat different kinds of cancer, including 90 for breast cancer. Acknowledging the progress already made in treating the disease, but recognizing the tremendous need for further research, cancer expert and Bristol-Myers Squibb scientist Dr. Renzo Cannetta says, "Thanks in part to new and innovative treatments, doctors are using less-invasive methods to treat breast cancer. Whereas in the past doctors might have performed a mastectomy, thanks to newer treatments many doctors are able to perform a lumpectomy or other much less-invasive procedures for patients."
Previous episodes of Sharing Miracles have featured Emmy Award-winning actor Joey Pantoliano, who suffers from clinical depression; Olympic gold medal winners Mark Spitz (high cholesterol) and Bruce Jenner (attention deficit disorder); syndicated television talk show host Montel Williams, who suffers from multiple sclerosis; four-time Olympic gold medalist swimmer Greg Louganis, who is affected by HIV; actor and Leave It To Beaver star
Jerry Mathers, who is affected by diabetes; pop icon and Broadway star
Deborah Gibson, who has suffered from devastating anxiety attacks; and North Carolina State University's basketball coach Kay Yow, a breast cancer survivor. Future programs will highlight NFL Hall of Famer and Super Bowl Champion quarterback Len Dawson, who battled prostate cancer, and former Pittsburgh Steelers All-Pro running back Jerome "The Bus" Bettis, who has asthma.
The new episode debuts October 5. Sharing Miracles airs on Sunday mornings -- in 52 television markets, reaching nearly 50 million households. Check your local listing for showtimes.
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