Angelina Jolie Opens Up About Brad Pitt Separation In Rare Interveiw

Angelina Jolie Says She "Didn't Recognise Herself" At The End Of Her Marriage To Brad Pitt

The actress opened up about their separation in a rare interview - by Isabelle Truman

Since announcing her shock separation from Brad Pitt in 2016, Angelina Jolie has stayed relatively tight-lipped about the breakdown of her marriage, even after Brad revealed he had a drug and alcohol dependency which he said was the reason for the split.

But while on a press tour for her new film Maleficent: Mistress of Evil, the mother-of-six gave a surprisingly honest interview with French magazine Madame Figaro, during which she opened up about losing herself in the lead up to her split with Brad, saying, "I didn’t recognise myself anymore."

"I feel like I'm coming full-circle," she said in the cover interview, which was translated to French. "For this new Guerlain campaign, I asked myself: what is expected of me? And the answer was that I want to be who I've always been. So instead of hiding my wild side, I'm bringing it out. I want to feel free."

"I'm certain that I'm in transition, and this is a homecoming, I'm coming back to myself. Because I was a little lost," Angelina continued, before saying, "I think it was at the end of my relationship with Brad and then when we separated. It was complicated, I didn't recognise myself anymore, and I'd become, how do I say this, smaller, insignificant, even if I didn't show it."

Of her marriage ending, the actress said, "I was profoundly, deeply sad, I was hurt. On the other hand, it was interesting to tap into this humility and even this insignificance I was feeling. Maybe this is what being human is in the end?"

"On top of all this, I suffered some health issues. All these things settle in you and remind you of how lucky you are of being alive."

"It's a lesson I pass onto my children: the idea of renewal, and through it all, the possibility of joy. I had to rediscover the joy."

Isabelle Truman

Isabelle Truman is a freelance writer based out of London, UK. She specialises in fashion, lifestyle and travel and knows a thing or two (read: everything) about both Meghan Markle and 'Sex and the City'.