“Of all the places in the world, Hollywood is not a healthy place.”
Angelina Jolie would do life differently if she got the chance to start over in Hollywood.
In a rare, candid interview published by WSJ. Magazine, the acclaimed actor, filmmaker, and philanthropist opened up about why she wouldn’t be keen to go into acting if she were just starting her career today.
“I wouldn’t be an actress today,” she told the outlet. “When I was starting out, it wasn’t as much of an expectation to be as public, to share so much.”
The public and media frenzy over her personal life has long been old news to Jolie, who says she doesn’t pay attention to the noise: “I’ve just been around so long, and there’s been everything said.”
Jolie, daughter of actors Jon Voight and the late Marcheline Bertrand, has long been disenchanted with the Hollywood scene. “Because I grew up around Hollywood, I was never very impressed with it,” she said. “I never bought into it as significant or important. … 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.”
Elsewhere during the interview, Jolie talked about how the intense demands of Hollywood and filming have affected her own physical health.
“My body reacts very strongly to stress. My blood sugar goes up and down,” she said, adding, “I suddenly had Bell’s palsy six months before my divorce.”
Jolie’s highly publicized split from Brad Pitt in 2019 has allegedly kept her from relocating internationally. The two are still in the midst of a drawn-out legal battle, with a particular point of contention being the custody of their six children: Maddox, 22, Pax, 20, Zahara, 18, Shiloh, 17, and twins Knox Leon and Vivienne Marcheline, 15.
“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 explained. Of their breakup, she kept her comments brief: “We had to heal. There are things we needed to heal from.”
