Angelina Jolie will see her son Maddox in Japan in "two days' time".

Angelina Jolie

Angelina Jolie

The 44-year-old actress was heartbroken last month when her 18-year-old son started at Yonsei University in South Korea but is counting down the days until she can be reunited with him again as he's flying to the East Asian country to see her.

Speaking to 'Extra', the 'Maleficent' star said: "He's flying to meet me in Japan. So I am two days from my hug ... He's great. I know he's solid, he's fine, but I need it."

Maddox is studying biochemistry at the private research university in Seoul and the 'The Tourist' star can't believe how "great" he's doing on the intense course.

Angelina - who has Maddox, Pax, 15, Zahara, 14, Shiloh, 13, and 11-year-old twins Knox and Vivienne with her ex-husband Brad Pitt - feels like she's on a new wave of life now that her children are slightly older and are spreading their wings.

She explained: "When your kids are a certain age, you go through stages, and you want to make sure they're safe and you want to make sure they understand certain values ... and then you get to a place where you've done a lot of that and you feel that they're good and you also want them to know joy, and it brings back a part of you that is fun and alive and silly. You have it in waves when they're little, but when they're older, they want to know you because they need to get through life and all the hardships in life, and they need how to weather those punches.

"So you don't just teach them how to survive it, you teach them how to thrive and manage it, so that takes a different level of spirit."