Angelina Jolie admits she's had a 'hard few years' amid bitter divorce from Brad Pitt but says she's now 'focused on healing' - as she poses outside her stunning new home that is just five minutes from ex

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Published on Friday, 05 February 2021 06:41

Written by Daily mail

         Angelia Jolie has revealed she is focused on 'healing our family' after struggling through a 'pretty hard few years' amid her bitter divorce from Brad Pitt.The 45-year-old actress admitted that she is still dealing with the fallout from her 2016 split from Pitt, 57, but said that she finally feels as though her happiness is 'slowly coming back'. In an interview with British Vogue editor Edward Enninful, Jolie shared some insight into how her life has changed since the end of her marriage, while posing for photos alongside her children at their $25 million Los Angeles home - which she says she bought because it is just five minutes away from Pitt's house. 'I wanted it to be close to their dad, who is only five minutes away,' she said of the sprawling property, which was once owned by late director Cecil B DeMille. The screen star and humanitarian spoke of how 'the ice [is] melting and the blood returning to my body' as she works to heal her family from the tumultuous time. A new black and white shot sees Angelina, dressed in a sleeveless white top, seated at the table as her kids tuck into a delicious meal.Another photo shows the doting mother styling her eldest son Maddox's hair in the bathroom of their LA home. The photos were taken when Editor-in-Chief of British Vogue, Edward Enninful, caught up with the actress in her LA home to discuss her family and work. The accompanying interview sees Angelina reflecting on her life since the end of her 12-year relationship with Brad.The humanitarian has been single ever since she separated from fellow thespian Brad in September 2016, following two years of marriage.  The former couple are said to be 'in a better place' after battling over finances and the custody of their children.Confessing she 'doesn't know' whether she's currently happy, Angelina insisted to Vogue that she has a positive outlook on the future.The Girl, Interrupted star shared: 'The past few years have been pretty hard. I've been focusing on healing our family. It's slowly coming back, like the ice melting and the blood returning to my body.'I'm looking forward to my fifties - I feel that I'm gonna hit my stride in my fifties. Though we were on the trampoline the other day, and the children said, ''No, Mom, don't do that. You'll hurt yourself.'' And I thought, ''God, isn't that funny?'' 'There was a day I was an action star, and now the kids are telling me to get off the trampoline because I'll hurt myself.'  
         Angelina insists she doesn't view herself as 'a traditional stay-at-home mum' as she was 'was never very good at sitting still', but she does credit her six kids for 'helping' her motherhood journey. On juggling her career with looking after her kids, the Tomb Raider icon told the publication: 'Well, I was never very good at sitting still.'Even though I wanted to have many children and be a mom, I always imagined it kind of like Jane Goodall, travelling in the middle of the jungle somewhere. I didn't imagine it in that true, traditional sense. 'I feel like I'm lacking in all the skills to be a traditional stay-at-home mom. I'm managing through it because the children are quite resilient, and they're helping me, but I'm not good at it at all.' Angelina filed to absolve her marriage to Brad in 2016, saying in a June 2020 interview with Vogue India that it was for 'the well-being of my family,' adding 'it was the right decision.'It was reported at the time that Pitt had gotten into an alcohol-fueled violent screaming match with Jolie, prompting eldest son Maddox, 19, to defend his mother. Jolie was granted temporary custody over all six children and Brad was granted visitation rights with a court-appointed therapist present. In 2018, a court ruled in favor of Brad after he alleged that Angelina was preventing the children from having a consistent relationship with him. He was given a temporary summer custody that allowed him to spend time with the kids without Jolie present. She then alleged that summer that he had not been paying 'meaningful' child support for over a year, with Pitt retorting that he had loaned Angelina $8M and given an additional $1.8M to help with bills. The custody trial was supposed to begin in November 2018 but the two reached an agreement instead, with ET reporting that it was in the best interest of the children and eliminated the need for a trial.
         Pitt was granted less than 50 percent custody of the kids despite wanting equal joint custody, prompting him to continue fighting for what he saw fit in another trial. The pair were ruled 'legally single' in April 2020 but the status did not finalize the divorce or the custody battle.  Brad continues to seek joint custody with a trial  that was scheduled for October, as he compiled a list of over 20 witnesses to strengthen his case. The couple had already decided that Maddox was not a custody consideration and could decide when he wanted to see Brad as he was no longer a minor. Many details of the trial have been kept under wraps, though a decision was purported to be expected at their next trial which was scheduled for December 21. In her latest interview with Vogue, the Unbroken star also touched on her role as the special envoy from the UN Refugee Agency. Angelina shared: 'I started in my early twenties, putting on my boots and backpack, and going out to try and figure out what the hell was going on in the world. 'I tried to give myself a broader education than I’d had at school. I grew up in a very empty place, in many ways, so had to go to find a wider understanding.'The activist went on to admit she believes the perception of refugees has 'worsened' over time, explaining: 'We speak as if refugees are a burden. But they’ve had to adapt. They have a different skill set, a different look in their eye. 'They’ve confronted their own humanity in such a profound way. They’ve stood up to oppression. We should honour their fight. Honour the people who’ve fled bombs and protected their kids.' Stressing the importance of teaching global citizenship to her kids, she added: 'They are from across the globe. When I see Mad in Cambodia, it’s his home. 'He is a Cambodian man, and at the same time, he is also an American citizen and a global citizen. But it’s not just important for him to go there, it’s important for his siblings to go there, too. 'We’ve been very blessed to have a family of different cultures and races. We are all learning from each other.'The Maleficent star first took on her humanitarian duties following her trip to Cambodia for Tomb Raider back in 2000. She visited the Asian country - where she met and subsequently adopted Maddox with ex-husband Billy Bob Thornton - for a United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) field mission.The TV and film star later travelled to Pakistan, where she donated $1 million (£821,980) in response to an emergency appeal. Angelina - who co-founded the Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict Initiative nine years ago - has since taken a hands-on approach in promoting a number of causes, including education, women's rights and conservation.

 source : Daily mail