Angelina Jolie Reveals She Quit Acting Before Brad Pitt Divorce

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Angelina Jolie is glad to be back onscreen.

Although the Oscar winner explained that she had basically retired from acting before she and her ex-husband Brad Pitt filed for divorce in 2016.

“I had kind of quit acting before my divorce,” Jolie told Variety in an interview published June 17. “I was focusing on directing, and I thought I’d be doing my international work.”

However, once the 51-year-old pulled back from her roles in front of the camera, she realized her other work required her to spend even more time away from her kids Maddox, 24, Pax, 22, Zahara, 21, Shiloh, 20, and twins Knox and Vivienne, 17.

“Suddenly the only way to be home more and for short periods of time being away or to make a good amount of money, was to go back to acting,” she continued, though she noted, “I was only taking things that were short or close by or I could take [my children].”

In addition to stepping back from acting, Jolie alluded to the emotional toll that her divorce from Pitt—which took nearly a decade to finalize—had on her life. But with the help of her kids, she emphasized, “My fighting spirit is finally back.”

“I lost it for a bit,” she added. “I got kind of taken down a little bit and it’s coming back in large part thanks to my children, who are now older, and encouraging it.”

And now, it’s the Salt star’s family unit that continues to inspire her work.

Aurore Marechal/Getty Images

“My kids are almost all 18, so now they want to see me traveling the world, they want me to get out and do things,” she explained. “They know me more than anybody, and they still like me, which says a lot. I think they’re very encouraging of me kind of getting back to aspects of myself that maybe I hadn’t felt as free to do.”

For a deeper dive into Jolie and Pitt’s kids, keep reading…

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