ANGELINA: I AM BROKEN
But she’s over the Brad days
HOLLYWOOD actress Angelina Jolie has spoken of “trauma” over the course of her life as a custody fight with ex-husband Brad Pitt drags on.
The mum-of-six, locked in a messy court battle since she filed for divorce in 2016, stars as a superhero with mental health issues in new movie Eternals.
And she revisited some of her past pains to bring the Marvel character to life. Angelina said: “I thought it was important to be able to say to people that we are all broken in one way or another.
“We all carry some trauma – many of us more than people know.
“It’s the struggling through that, it’s the continuing to go on even with that, that makes people truly strong and heroic.”
In Eternals, Angelina plays a warrior goddess called Thena, who suffers memory loss.
The star said: “Memories can weigh on us, but I think that’s what our life is – a collection of moments and memories. They’ve shaped us.
“I don’t believe in regrets. I believe that everything – even if it’s the darkest thing – somehow you have to let it shape you. Then it’s about what you do with those experiences and memories. But they are hard sometimes.”
Angelina’s divorce from movie heartthrob Brad came through in 2019. But they are still fighting over custody of Pax, 17, Zahara, 16, Shiloh, 15, and twins Knox and
Vivienne, 13. Their eldest, Maddox, is now 20. Eternals director Chloé Zhao got Angelina to revisit past traumas.
While she did not give specific details, the star said: “We spent a lot of time talking about what my particular PTSD and damage actually is and we brought it into this film.”
She added: “We all have damage. I’ve been very blessed with many things...but I also carry damage.”
Eternals is a movie of firsts for the Marvel franchise. Chloé is its first female of colour director and the film features its first same-sex couple and openly gay character.
Oscar-winner Angelina 46, whose string of movies includes Maleficent and Tomb Raider, told Sunday Mirror’s Notebook magazine she “loved the diversity and inclusion” and hopes it becomes “the new normal”.
She admitted she felt a bit awestruck at the thought of becoming a superhero, saying: “When I first put on the outfit, I remember thinking, “Oh my God, I’m doing this.
“But, you don’t feel completely comfortable. You find it a bit silly and a bit fun.
“Then I went out and saw everybody else and I got really emotional.”
The UNICEF special envoy said her own personal superheroes are “those on the frontline who give every single minute of every day of their life” and volunteers who work with refugees.
She said: “We sometimes forget, but there is more good around the world than bad and there are many people doing many great things.”