Jolie on separation: Things got difficult
Film-maker denies Pitt’s wish for more anchored life behind split
ngelina Jolie is opening up about her life after filing for divorce from Brad Pitt last year. In an interview with the actress and film director talks about focusing on her children in the wake of their highly publicised split. It’s less revealing than the interview Pitt gave to GQ this year in which he revealed he had quit drinking and been listening to a lot of Frank Ocean. But it does offer a glimpse into Jolie’s life as a single mother, who admits to taking cooking classes at her kids’ request. Jolie recently directed First They Killed My Father, Jolie told contributing editor Evgenia Peretz that in the summer of 2016, “things got bad” between her and Pitt, her partner of 12 years. “I didn’t want to use that word. Things became ‘difficult’,” she said.
Jolie was coy about their split, though she did hit back at rumours Pitt had grown weary of the family’s frequent travelling and wanted a more stable life for the children: “That was not the problem. That is and will remain one of the wonderful opportunities we are able to give our children. They’re six very strongminded, thoughtful, worldly individuals. I’m very proud of them.”
Asked if her relationship with Pitt had improved since their very public separation, Jolie offered a careful response: “We care for each other and care about our family, and we are both working towards the same goal.”
She was diagnosed with Bell’s palsy
Jolie was diagnosed with hypertension last year, as well as Bell’s palsy, a condition that disables the muscles on one side of the face because of nerve damage or acute inflammation. The actress said acupuncture had helped her fully recover.
“Sometimes women in families put themselves last until it manifests itself in their own health,” she told the magazine. Jolie has been open about her health struggles in the past. In 2013, she wrote a New York Times op-ed about her decision to have a double mastectomy after learning she carried the BRCA1 gene mutation, putting her at high risk for breast and ovarian cancers.
Two years later, she revealed that she had undergone preventative surgery to remove her ovaries and fallopian tubes after a cancer scare.
Her kids were involved with production on her upcoming film
First They Killed My Father is clearly a passion project for Jolie. The actress recalls buying Ung’s memoir for $2 in Cambodia, where she had filmed 2001’s Lara Croft: Tomb Raider. Her experiences in Cambodia inspired Jolie to learn more about international issues, leading to many of her humanitarian interests today.
Cambodia is also where she adopted her now 15-year-old son, Maddox, who is a credited as a producer on First They Killed My Father and, as Jolie tells it, is largely the reason the film got off the ground in the first place. “He was the one who said, ‘It’s time to do it’.”
Vanity Fair reports that Jolie’s son, Pax, did on-set still photography, and her other kids “became close playmates with the child actors” in the film.