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Angelina Jolie admits ‘The past few years have been pretty hard’

“There was a day I was an action star, and now the kids are telling me to get off the trampoline because I’ll hurt myself.”


Jovita Trujillo - Los Angeles
Senior WriterLos Angeles
FEBRUARY 1, 2021 8:35 PM EST

Angelina Jolie is more than an actress and filmmaker. The mother of 6 is an activist, humanitarian and has pushed for legislation to aid child immigrants and human rights. She was of course married to Brad Pitt and the former couple has six children: Maddox, 19, Pax, 16, Zahara, 15, Shiloh, 14, and 12-year-old twins Vivienne and Knox. Jolie was featured on the February cover of British Vogue and opened up in a candid interview about her life these days, admitting that the last few years of have been “pretty hard.”

When it comes to being a “stay at home” mom, it‘s not something Jolie feels confident about. “I feel like I’m lacking in all the skills to be a traditional stay-at-home mom. I’m managing through it because the children are quite resilient, and they’re helping me, but I’m not good at it at all,” she expressed.

When asked if she felt as if she was at a happy stage in her life, Jolie honestly replied, “I don’t know.” “The past few years have been pretty hard. I’ve been focusing on healing our family. It’s slowly coming back, like the ice melting and the blood returning to my body.” Jolie and Pitt have been in a lengthy divorce battle since they split in 2016. They were legally declared single by a judge in 2019 but the case is still ongoing. She continued, “But I’m not there. I’m not there yet. But I hope to be. I’m planning on it. I do like being older. I feel much more comfortable in my forties than I did when I was younger. Maybe because… I don’t know… maybe because my mom didn’t live very long, so there’s something about age that feels like a victory instead of a sadness for me.”

Jolie’s mother, Marcheline Bertrand passed away on January 27, 2007, from ovarian cancer. She was 56 years old. Jolie is 45 and approaching her 50’s in a few years, something she said she is looking forward to. “I’m looking forward to my fifties – I feel that I’m gonna hit my stride in my fifties.” The Mr. and Mrs. Smith actress then shared this funny story, “Though we were on the trampoline the other day, and the children said, ‘No, Mom, don’t do that. You’ll hurt yourself.’ And I thought, ‘God, isn’t that funny?’ There was a day I was an action star, and now the kids are telling me to get off the trampoline because I’ll hurt myself.”

Jolie stars in Marvel’s upcoming film ‘Eternals’, with Richard Madden and Salma Hayek. To be released this month on February 12. Jolie said she loved the cast and explained, “I signed up to support Chloé [Zhao]’s vision and Marvel’s commitment to expand the way we see ‘superheroes.’” Jolie also rocks a gold bodysuit which she admits, “Running around in a gold bodysuit was not how I imagined my forties. But it’s good crazy, I think.” Jolie is also soon publishing a book for children and young adults with Geraldine Van Bueren QC and Amnesty International called “Know Your Rights (And Claim Them).” The author explained, “We want to help young people to identify who or what is blocking them from accessing their human rights, and how to try to overcome that.” The youth is something she talked fondly about throughout the interview, “I see a lot of older people making excuses for certain behaviors, and it tends to be the younger person who is quicker to say, ‘But this is simply wrong, and we stand against it.’ I’ve wanted to remain that person.”