Eight years have passed since Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie filed for divorce, yet the proceedings are still ongoing. The latest development indicates that Jolie feels she is ‘forced to stay in Los Angeles’.
The couple officially divorced in 2019, but the division of their substantial assets, including a $25 million vineyard in southern France, has prolonged the process far beyond the norm.
Angelina Jolie, now 49, recently spoke with the Hollywood Reporter about her future plans, subtly hinting at her ex-husband.
The couple shares six children: 23-year-old Maddox, 20-year-old Pax, 19-year-old Zahara, 18-year-old Shiloh, and 16-year-old twins Knox and Vivienne.
“I’ve been a parent for 23 years. The most beautiful thing about being a parent is that you are not the center of your life. So you are leaving set, focused on something for someone,” she shared when asked how she manages the stress of acting.
“That’s your real life. Your real world. And that always is the majority of who you are.”
Jolie’s interview coincides with her return to acting after several years, as she takes on the role of opera singer Maria Callas in the upcoming film Maria.
When Rebecca Keegan from the magazine asked, “Why had you waited so long since you last acted or directed?” Jolie responded quickly: “I needed to be home more with my kids.”
“I have never had a set where my family is not allowed to be there because I’m focusing — I’m not that person,” she explained to Keegan.
As for her plans once the divorce is finalized, Jolie aims to leave the hustle and bustle of LA for the serene landscapes of Cambodia, where she and Pitt adopted their eldest son and where she already owns a home.
She elaborated: “I grew up in this town [LA]. I am here because I have to be here from a divorce, but as soon as they’re 18, I’ll be able to leave. When you have a big family, you want them to have privacy, peace, safety.”
“I have a house now to raise my children, but sometimes this place can be … that humanity that I found across the world is not what I grew up with here.”
“[After Los Angeles,] I’ll spend a lot of time in Cambodia. I’ll spend time visiting my family members wherever they may be in the world.”