Angelina Jolie says her kids brought her fighting spirit back

Angelina Jolie says she is finding herself again, crediting her six children after years of turmoil following her split from Brad Pitt.

Angelina Jolie is finding herself again, and in a rare and candid interview with Variety, she has spoken openly about what brought her back. The Oscar-winning actress, who is currently promoting her latest film Couture, shared that after years of personal turmoil following her split from Brad Pitt, it is her six children who have quietly and consistently pulled her back to herself.
“I think my fighting spirit is finally back,” she told the outlet. “I lost it for a bit. 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.”
The interview arrives at a pointed moment. All six of her children, including Maddox, 24, Pax, 22, Zahara, 21, Shiloh, 20, and 17-year-old twins Knox and Vivienne, have now dropped the Pitt surname, either legally or professionally. It is a shift that has been playing out gradually and publicly over the past year, and Jolie’s comments about her children’s unwavering support carry an unmistakable context.
She spoke about her bond with her children with genuine warmth, describing them as people who know her more than anyone and still choose to be in her corner. “They know me more than anybody, and they still like me, which says a lot,” she said. “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.”
She also reflected on the years when her life had narrowed considerably under the weight of her legal battle with Pitt. She admitted that she had nearly walked away from acting entirely during that period, intending instead to focus on directing and her international humanitarian work. “I thought I’d be doing my international work,” she said.
Returning to acting, she explained, was ultimately a practical decision driven by her role as a mother. Short projects close to home, or ones she could bring her children along for, became her criteria. It was less a creative choice and more a way of remaining present for her family while still earning a living.
Now, with the divorce finalised in December 2024 after eight years of proceedings, and her children growing into adults who actively encourage her, Jolie appears to be stepping back into a version of herself that the past decade had kept on hold. Her children, she said, now want to see her travelling, working, and engaging with the world again.
Jolie and Pitt were first linked in 2005, married in 2014, and separated just two years later. What followed was one of the most protracted and heavily scrutinised divorces in Hollywood history. That chapter is now closed, and by her own account, what she finds on the other side of it is something worth returning to.