Angelina Jolie: "At the end of my relationship with Brad, I didn't recognize myself"
Exclusive. - Six children, an Oscar, a flawless humanitarian commitment ... and a separation. Wounded but standing, the star comments with sincerity on her life after Brad Pitt. Confidences of a woman (almost) like the others, muse of Mon Guerlain and charismatic witch in the next Disney, which is celebrating her 45th birthday this Thursday, June 4.
Extremely rare, Angelina Jolie escapes the public eye, and is photographed more at economic symposiums than on Hollywood red carpets. She hasn't made a film since Maleficent: Mistress of Evil (2019) and Sea View (2015), which she directed. Three years ago, she signed again First They Killed My Dad, a Netflix production, then nothing. The cinema has not been enough to fill her life for a long time: at 45 - she blew out her candles this Thursday, June 4 - she is the mother of six children and a human rights activist who juggles with time zones. In the meantime, the ideal couple she formed with Brad Pitt, married in France in 2014, has been shattered. Tabloids around the world had a blast - you had to choose sides: Brad or Angelina? The ex-lovers, whose perfection fascinated, no longer spoke and struggled to find an agreement for custody of their children - which would now be done.
With unfailing dignity, Angelina Jolie nevertheless seeks to refocus her image: no, she is not the iron lady or the battling wolf described here and there, but a wounded woman who rebuilds herself by rediscovering a femininity and a gentleness perhaps eluded by the weight of the seriousness of its obligations. Angelina Jolie has returned to the studios. On October 16, 2019, we discovered her in Maleficent: Power of Evil, a film where she again played the sexiest witch in the Disney nebula.
We meet her at the beginning of summer 2019, in Paris. She is visiting to talk about her collaboration with the house of Guerlain, of which she is the face of a new perfume, Mon Guerlain Eau de Parfum Intense. The clip shows her stripped naked, wrapping herself in silk sheets or dancing in the hot rain of the jungle of Cambodia - where she owns a house - the country of which she has acquired nationality, in addition to her US passport. Post-Brad Pitt Angelina Jolie is sultry and wants to be known.
In the light-flooded living room of a Parisian palace, she awaits you, gently helping herself with a cup of tea. Jovial, smiling, warm, classically dressed, hair pulled back, pearls on her ears - her famous tattoos flush under a huge beige pashmina. This is one of the paradoxes of a woman who stands up straight like an old school lady but whose skin on her back is a page of cryptic writing. Do not be fooled by appearances, therefore, and go beyond this impressive and a little strange beauty.
Angelina Jolie intrigues, confuses, fascinates. It is definitely out of the ordinary (“larger than life”, say the Americans). Everything seems too narrow for the one who has succeeded in solving the impossible equation: Oscar-winning screen goddess and very credible champion of human rights, powerful woman decorated by the Queen of England, tireless activist who inspects the camps of refugees, speaks in Davos and calls out to international institutions with a strong voice. A symbol of good, in a way (impossible not to detect some particles of holiness in her face as a Madonna of the 21st century), an agitator of consciences and also, that morning, a luminous woman, whose sincerity seems impossible to question.
Angelina Jolie. - It's been a while since I came here, and I miss Paris terribly.
Madame Figaro. - Especially since you are a little French by your mother ...
Paris has a je ne sais quoi that is good for the soul. In your city, you are immediately encouraged to adopt a different turn of mind, more open, freer ... Suddenly, I feel more like a woman. Because my femininity can vary depending on the context. I have to juggle several statuses: actress, director, activist, mother of six. Also, the circumstances of my separation meant that I had to relocate to Los Angeles because Brad wants to continue living there. Europe, France, Paris, it's a whole different life, it's not my daily life, alas ...
Is there a hierarchy between all these different roles and activities?
I answer you without hesitation that my role as mother predominates over everything. In the morning, I wake up mom. Today, tomorrow again and forever, in my opinion. Because once you become a parent, you belong to other beings, you don't quite belong to yourself. My whole life and my choices condition the lives of my children. Their needs and priorities are my priority, and I am very attentive to anything that might influence or hurt them. So I am a continuous mother, and it is only when they are in school that I can start my humanitarian and political work. I call my office, write editorials for Time magazine, and get through a lot of administrative matters. Once all this is finished, I can finally devote myself to the cinema.
When you released the movie Invincible, which you directed, you had hinted that you were going to give up your acting career. Is this still relevant?
This was indeed the case at the time. But with the separation, I had to re-evaluate my choices: I find it necessary to be present with my children and not to be away constantly. Now is not the right time to get involved in long term projects. In a way, being an actress is easier nowadays, because it is an activity that occupies me for a shorter period of time. It had been a while since I shot for the movies, and it's a great exercise when you're not doing very well, coming out of a bad patch. Playing a strong character as the evil queen from Maleficent is a form of therapy. Surprisingly, being a powerful character can really help rebuild when you're not feeling your best ...
Have you rebuilt yourself?
I'm more resilient than before, but it's still a tough time.
Your image is constantly evolving, you get lost in all your facets: actress, director, activist, columnist ... Did you expect to travel such a path?
I feel like I'm living a cyclical story. For this Guerlain campaign, I asked the following question: what is expected of me? And the answer was, they wanted me the way I had always been. So instead of toning down my "wild" side, we accentuated it. But you know, I see my life as a path. I am always in search of freedom, and if I can seem daring at times, it's because I don't really choose prudence or moderation. I own a house deep in the jungle, and I have never refused to travel to conflicted territory. I work at the UN, I collaborate with the military, I push myself to have experiences that I believe are necessary for my construction as a human being. I force myself to do things every day that intimidate me and sometimes scare me. I have never confined myself to physical or emotional comfort: I seek the test of reality.
"I am in a period of transition"
Do you think you have a destiny?
I don't really know, but since I have children the only thing that concerns me is to set an example for them, to be honest, to carry a sincere voice and to guide them in the same way. , a path where it is important to show kindness to others, to know how to look at them accurately, not to hurt them. And to understand that you have only one life and that it is important to fill it as usefully as possible. To answer your question, I don't know what my destiny is made of, but what I am convinced is that I am in a period of transition, like a homecoming, a return to myself. Because I got a little lost ...
That is to say ?
I think it happened when we ended my relationship with Brad and then when we broke up. It was a complicated moment, when I didn't recognize myself anymore, when I had become ... how to say ... smaller, as insignificant, even if it was not necessarily visible. I felt a deep, real sadness, I was hurt. On the other hand, it was interesting to reconnect with that humility and even that insignificance that I felt. In the end, maybe this is what is human ... In addition to all of this, I have experienced some health concerns. All of these things take hold of you and remind you of how lucky you are to be alive. This is yet another lesson to pass on to my children: the idea of renewal, and then, above all, a possible return to the joy of living. I must rediscover the joy ...
Last year I attended your master class in Toronto. You were wearing a long white dress, you were lit by a spotlight, and at the end of the conversation everyone stood up and surrounded you gently, in total silence, just to approach you. You looked like a saint ...
(She laughs.) I am deeply humanist. I am very touched by people, alternately touched or upset by what is called the human condition. Maybe I got this from my mother, who was absolute kindness, grace, and generosity - and whom I can never match, even if I try. Society puts insane pressure on women by requiring them to combine femininity and omnipotence. It’s not an easy thing. Along the way, life means that we find ourselves obliged to fight, to resist, to toughen up. It takes that much effort to regain softness. I see people every day for whom life does not give a gift, but I wish us - I wish myself - to soften ourselves in such a violent world.
What do you think of the hegemony of the Me Too movement in Hollywood? At times, marketing or political correctness seems to disturb the party ...
I think Hollywood should have launched an investigation with an outside investigation. This has not been done. It would have taken a more independent look. I am often involved in international women's affairs and I think there is a lot to review in Hollywood ...
Perhaps it is up to you to conduct this investigation?
This is not a city I want to focus on ...
What is your life like in Los Angeles?
I am not really attached to this city. I would prefer to travel more often, but that is not compatible with Brad's work today. I cooperate.
