Angelina Jolie Details Toll of Brad Pitt Divorce, Why She Quit Acting

Angelina Jolie is glad to be back onscreen.

Although the Oscar winner explained that she had basically retired from acting before she and her ex-husband Brad Pitt filed for divorce in 2016. 

“I had kind of quit acting before my divorce,” Jolie told Variety in an interview published June 17. “I was focusing on directing, and I thought I’d be doing my international work.”

However, once the 51-year-old pulled back from her roles in front of the camera, she realized her other work required her to spend even more time away from her kids Maddox, 24, Pax, 22, Zahara, 21, Shiloh, 20, and twins Knox and Vivienne, 17.

“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,” she continued, though she noted, “I was only taking things that were short or close by or I could take [my children].”

In addition to stepping back from acting, Jolie alluded to the emotional toll that her divorce from Pitt—which took nearly a decade to finalize—had on her life. But with the help of her kids, she emphasized, “My fighting spirit is finally back.”