Angelina Jolie’s children reassure her she hasn’t made a “mess” of her life.
Angelina Jolie is dedicated to her children
The ‘Eternals’ actress – who has Maddox, 19, Pax, 18, Zahara, 17, Shiloh, 16, and 13-year-old twins Knox and Vivienne with ex-husband Brad Pitt – turns to her brood when she’s having “doubts” and seeing how they have all grown up as “good people” allows her to see herself through their eyes.
She said: “When I have doubts and I don’t know who I am, I’ll sit with them and feel they know me more than anyone knows me.
“And then I see myself and I see them as good people, interesting people, all very strong individuals, and I think I can’t be all bad, I can’t have made a mess.”
The 47-year-old beauty doesn’t feel her life has been her own since she had children.
She told Britain’s Harper’s Bazaar magazine: “My children have an impact on every aspect of who I am.
“The moment you become a parent, your life isn’t yours. You don’t know what ‘you’ is, it’s not really about your life anymore, and so you want to represent them, you want to be that model for them, your best self.”
And the ‘Tomb Raider’ star is still “figuring out” her own life in the wake of her divorce from Brad.
She said: "All of us struggle because no one is a perfect person so we're just putting ourselves in check to ask, are we coming from the right place? And there's no end to that growth."
While Angelina is well known for her humanitarian work, she doesn’t want to over-burden her own children with the problems of the world, and thinks they need some “silliness” in their lives to counteract the constant news cycle.
She said: “They are more connected than any generation has ever been, and with that comes an overload of information about the world we’re living in – some very frightening things and they’re exposed to all of them.
“They’re being encouraged to do something about it, which is wonderful because it gives them agency, but also, they shouldn’t feel that pressure.
“The biggest challenge for this generation is just trying to help them seek joy and find peace… they need some silliness and rebellion.”
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