Angelina Jolie has opened up in rare fashion about the divorce proceedings that took years to conclude.
Although she and Brad Pitt were only married for two years, their relationship lasted well over a decade and became one of Hollywood’s most closely watched partnerships. The former couple split in 2016 and reached a divorce settlement in late 2024, ending their marriage after years of legal wrangling.
Together, they share six children: Maddox, 24, Pax, 22, Zahara, 21, Shiloh, 20, and twins Knox and Vivienne, 17. In recent years, several of their children have reportedly chosen to stop using ‘Pitt’ in their names.
According to HELLO!, Knox is the latest to make that change. The twins will turn 18 on July 12, 2026.
Despite years of public attention surrounding the split, both Jolie and Pitt have largely kept detailed comments about the end of their marriage to a minimum.
Now, months after the divorce was finalized, Jolie has offered a glimpse into where she is emotionally and what has helped her move forward.
In an interview with Variety, she said her children played a major role in helping her reconnect with herself.
“I think my fighting spirit is finally back,” she said. “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.”
“My kids are almost all 18, so now they want to see me traveling the world, they want me to get out and do things.
“They know me more than anybody, and they still like me, which says a lot. 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.”
Elsewhere in the interview, Jolie reflected on how her career shifted around the time of the separation. In recent years, she has focused more on directing and producing, with films such as Without Blood, Unbroken, and First They Killed My Father among her credits.
She is now returning to the screen with Couture, which is set to arrive in US theaters on June 26.
“I had kind of quit acting before my divorce. I was focusing on directing, and I thought I’d be doing my international work. But then suddenly the only way to be home more and for short periods of time being away or to make a good amount of money, was to go back to acting.
“I was only taking things that were short or close by or I could take [my children].”