Rita Wilson celebrates 10 years cancer-free after life-changing battle

Rita Wilson told Tom Hanks after her breast cancer diagnosis in 2015 that if she were to die, she wanted him to be 'sad for a very long time.'

The actress recalled the couple's heartfelt conversation about her health battle while speaking with Demi Moore at the Sound of a Woman: Rita Wilson in Conversation event at 92nd Street Y in New York City on Tuesday.

'I said to Tom, I'm like, 'OK, if, if something happens and I go first, I just have two requests. And one is that you should be sad for a very, very long time,' Wilson, 69, revealed, per People.

Her second request for Hanks, 69, was to 'throw me a party.'

'I want it to be a celebration of life,' Wilson remembered telling Hanks. 'I want it to be about people telling stories and joy and remembering me in that way.'

Wilson, who has been married to Hanks since 1988, underwent a double mastectomy and reconstructive surgery after doctors found 'invasive' cancer in 2015.

The 'Sleepless in Seattle' star told Moore that her 2019 song 'Throw Me a Party' was inspired by her and Hank's conversation after her diagnosis.

Wilson marked a decade since she was cancer-free with a heartfelt Instagram post in March 2025.

'10 years. And I am so deeply grateful,' Wilson told her followers.