Second Chances

It’s a steamy, 92-degree day, but Tony Award-winning actress Marissa Jaret Winokur, 36, arrives for this interview looking cool and picture-perfect. Her makeup is in place, her hair is coiffed, and she’s decked out in black leggings, sparkling Tiffany earrings—and a broad smile. 

Nothing about Marissa’s buttoned-up appearance hints that she has survived a major medical episode, or that she has a mischievous toddler at home. Yet Marissa is, in fact, a cancer survivor and a very busy mom. In fact, right after this interview at a restaurant near her San Fernando Valley home, she’s off to a shoot for her show, “Dance Your Ass Off” (DYAO)—and yes, you can say that on cable TV. 

Premiering this past June, the Oxygen Network’s latest reality show puts contestants through their moves in a dance/weight-loss competition that the self-described “chubby” actress describes as inspiring. “As the host, I’m constantly watching contestants literally dance their asses off and lose weight—so I thought I’d dance mine off, too,” Marissa chuckles. “So far, though, I’ve lost only five pounds.”

The battles begin

Weight has been a lifelong issue, says Marissa, a native New Yorker who spent her high school days as a cheerleader and captain of her soccer team. So when lunch arrives, it’s a healthy dish that includes grilled chicken and organic beans and rice. In the grand scheme of things, though, the actress sees her weight-loss battle as small potatoes compared with some of the others she’s fought. “When I was 27,” she says, “I was diagnosed with cervical cancer.”  

Marissa’s cancer was discovered thanks to a routine Pap smear, a test that often catches cancer in its earliest stages. She hadn’t had any symptoms; pain and bleeding between periods often don’t occur until the cancer is advanced. 

When her doctor gave her the news, the actress, who lived in a one-bedroom Hollywood apartment at the time, felt the walls close in. “I was all alone and being told I had cancer,” Marissa recalls. “All I could do was say, ‘Oh my gosh, oh my gosh,’ over and over again.” She pulled herself together enough to ask her doctor what the worst-case scenario would be. “He said that would be if the cancer had spread beyond my cervix.”

Lucky breaks

Fortunately, the cancer had not spread. Marissa, who had been offered the role of Tracy Turnblad, the central character in the Broadway adaptation of the musical Hairspray, underwent surgery to remove the cancer. At the same time, she was attending stage readings and acting workshops, boning up for what would be her breakout role. 

Since doctors determined that she did not need chemotherapy, Marissa was able to continue working without anybody knowing she was having multiple surgical procedures. Frightened as she was, Marissa simply didn’t let on. “I’d just gotten my big break,” she explains, “and I was afraid that if people knew about my cancer, I’d be replaced.”

Initially, surgeons removed only part of Marissa’s cervix—but failed to get all of the cancer. “My doctors were really trying to figure out how to get the cancer out and save my uterus, so I could still have a baby,” Marissa remembers. But it soon became clear that simply wasn’t an option. “I recall saying, ‘Guys, I just want this cancer out of my body. We’ll figure out the baby thing when I’m ready.’ ”

Just in time

In the end, doctors removed Marissa’s entire cervix and her uterus. Although that meant she would be unable to give birth, she feels blessed. “Considering that the cancer could have spread throughout my body, I feel really lucky,” she says. “We caught it just in time.”

Since then, the actress’s luck has held, and eight months after surgery she began wowing New York audiences in Hairspray. In 2003, she won a Tony Award for best leading actress in a Broadway musical. After that, Marissa’s career began to skyrocket, and she was soon cast in the movies American Beauty and Fever Pitch. She also appeared on a number of TV talk shows, and scored appearances in popular sitcoms, including “Curb Your Enthusiasm” and “Dharma & Greg.” 

During this time, she’d also gotten to know comedy writer Judah Miller, who would eventually work on the Fox sitcom “Stacked,” in which Marissa costarred with Pamela Anderson. Judah and Marissa became close. “I knew he would be my best friend for the rest of my life,” she says. As things turned out, they would be more than friends. In 2006, they were married. 

A child is born

Now it was finally time to “figure out the baby thing.” Because the doctors who performed Marissa’s surgeries were able to save her ovaries, her son, Zev Miller, was born through the gift of surrogacy. Marissa’s eggs and Judah’s sperm were joined in a petri dish and then carried to term by the woman who served as their surrogate birth mother. 

Marissa and Judah were in the delivery room at the time of the birth, helping to bring their son into the world. “I was in love the moment I saw him,” recalls Marissa of the joyful moment when she first laid eyes on Zev. “In addition to being given a second chance at life when my cancer was removed, our surrogate mom gave me a second chance at motherhood!”

Today, Marissa, Judah, and Zev, 1, enjoy life at their California home—and the actress still finds time to pursue her dreams. Her show, “DYAO,” followed up her performance as a contestant on “Dancing with the Stars,” in which her fleet feet carried her into the final four of the competition.

To keep her energy levels up for her career and her family, the actress works out regularly and sticks to a healthy diet. “I don’t think of myself as a cancer survivor anymore, unless I’m talking about it,” says Marissa. “But I did beat cancer, I have Zev, and because I got through these challenges, I feel like I could get through anything.”

It’s the best of times, Marissa says, for herself and her family. And every day, she says, one feeling stands out above all others: “I just want to celebrate life!”  

—Bonnie Siegler

Stopping Cervical Cancer

A traditional Pap test, a routine part of a gynecological exam, detected actress Marissa Jaret Winokur’s cervical cancer. These tests look for cell changes on the cervix that could become cancer if they are not treated. Women should start getting Pap tests within three years of the first time they have sex.

Although the Pap test is standard practice, things have changed in the nine years since Marissa’s diagnosis. In that time, researchers have learned that some strains of the human papillomavirus (HPV) are a major cause of cervical cancer. And they’ve come up with HPV tests and vaccines that can help many women avoid cervical cancer altogether.

HPV is a fairly common virus. It has about 100 strains, most of which infect the skin and mucous membranes, and show up as cold sores or warts. But some of these strains are spread through sexual contact—these are the ones that cause the genital infections that lead to cervical cancer. HPV tests look for these viruses. “I’m all for women getting the HPV test,” notes Marissa, who says she wishes the test had been available before she was diagnosed. “Any woman, at any age, can get the test.”

Now, another layer of protection is available: the HPV vaccine, approved by the Food and Drug Administration in 2006. When given to women before they become sexually active, the three-injection vaccine, administered over a period of several months, effectively prevents infection by the two viral strains known to cause 70% of cervical cancers. 

All of this means that women who are proactive and informed about their gynecological health now stand a pretty good chance of stopping cervical cancer in its tracks.