Angelina Jolie doesn’t act much these days, and if she could do things over, it doesn’t sound like she’d start acting at all. In a new interview with The Wall Street Journal, Jolie says, “I wouldn’t be an actress today.” The Oscar winner says that when she began her career, “it wasn’t as much of an expectation to be as public, to share so much.”
Though Angelina Jolie has been a tabloid target since her days carrying Billy Bob Thorton’s blood around her neck, her divorce from Brad Pitt created an unsustainable amount of stress. The increased scrutiny in the press contributed to her Bell’s Palsy diagnosis, she says.
“My body reacts very strongly to stress,” Jolie said. “My blood sugar goes up and down. I suddenly had Bell’s palsy six months before my divorce.”
Jolie hasn’t made many public statements about her divorce. However, she’s made several accusations against her ex-husband in court. Last year, Jolie filed suit against Pitt, accusing him of physical abuse against her and their children. The FBI investigated the incident but decided not to pursue criminal charges against Pitt.
Since then, she and her children have hinted, sometimes very loudly, about their feelings for the actor. On Father’s Day, Pitt’s son posted on Instagram, “Happy Father’s Day to this world class a–hole!! You time and time again prove yourself to be a terrible and despicable person. You have no consideration or empathy toward your 4 youngest children who tremble in fear when in your presence.” In her September interview with Vogue, Jolie said she began “only taking jobs that didn’t require long shoots” around the time of her divorce because she still had “a lot of healing to do.”
Now, Jolie plans on leaving Hollywood for good, trading SoCal for her house in Cambodia.
“It’s part of what happened after my divorce. I lost the ability to live and travel as freely. I will move when I can,” Jolie said. “I grew up in quite a shallow place. Of all the places in the world, Hollywood is not a healthy place. So you seek authenticity.”