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In her latest role, Angelina Jolie plays a character that she relates to on a deeply personal level.
The actress stars in Taylor Sheridan’s new survival thriller, Those Who Wish Me Dead, in which she portrays a smoke jumper named Hannah Faber. In the film, Jolie’s character finds herself grappling with PTSD after experiencing a tragedy on the job and blaming herself for it, but ultimately finding strength to overcome life’s obstacles.
In an interview with ET on Monday, the 45-year-old opened up about going through a period in her own life where she felt broken, which is similar to the feelings her character is going through.
“We all have times in our lives where we feel broken, and I was in a period like that,” Jolie admitted while talking to ET’s Nischelle Turner. “I’ve had my share of things that made me feel... you know, hard to speak too much about it, but just overwhelming or broken. So to have an opportunity, I feel very lucky. I wish all women could have this at times in their lives.”
She continued, “I’ve had this many times in my life. When my mom passed away [from cancer in 2007] I did want it, you know? It’s apart of something when you feel you just want to kind of hide under the covers or you’re not sure what you got left in you.”
“You get an opportunity and I would encourage anybody to do it. You’re not a film actor, doesn’t matter,” Jolie explained. “Go somewhere, see what you got in you. Put yourself against the elements, or try something you’ve never tried and kind of try to rediscover that strength within.”
The actress went on to say that one of the ways she tries to anchor her self-worth in is with her “use to others.”
“I think that‘s always been, or at least being a parent before then, just contribution. I think that’s what I try to tell my kids,” she revealed during the interview. “It’s you can try a bit of this, you can do this with your life, but at the end of the day, what’s your contribution? What’s your contribution to others, you know?”