Angelina Jolie Recalls Not Feeling ”Safe” and ”Free” in Recent Years

Angelina Jolie is ready to open up. 

Justin Sylvester, host of Daily Pop on E!, spoke with the leading ladies of the upcoming Maleficent: Mistress of Evil sequel about what fans can expect from the upcoming film, the overarching theme of love in it and how the actresses enjoy working with each other. 

“What is it about love that makes us go nuts?” Sylvester asks Jolie, Elle Fanning, and Michelle Pfeiffer. To which Jolie answered, “The real truest love pulls out your best self. It’s what you value, what you’re loyal to and what you’re willing to fight for. So I think that truest love does that, and I think for Maleficient—it’s the surprise that she didn’t realize that she had it in her.” 

But more than that, the 44-year-old actress—who has recently found herself in custody battles with ex-husband Brad Pitt—opened up about how she’s been feeling these past four years since her divorce and the parallels between herself and the Disney character. 

Then, when asked about whether she feels protective when people describe her Maleficent character as simply cold and evil, the Mr. & Mrs. Smith actress said: “I think Maleficent is wild, I think there is that thing in all of us that is just not safe and not fine, that wants to just have fun and be our best self.”

Unlike the character, however, Jolie reveals that she hasn’t always felt that way in recent years.

“There have been times in my life where I have felt—and maybe I’ve hidden them well from the public—where I have not felt free, I have not felt safe, I have not felt like free of harm. I have felt small. I have felt cornered. And it has taken a lot to find that again, probably more of that today than I was in the last four years,” she added.

While it’s seemingly the most the actress has opened up in recent years, it’s certainly not the first time she’s opened up about how she feels following her divorce to the Once Upon a Time in Hollywood and Ad Astra actor.

In August, the legendary actress shared with E! News that “these last few years haven’t been the easiest, and I haven’t felt very strong. There’s something when you’re not feeling very strong, where you push yourself.” There’s no doubt the actress has been pushing herself, not only is she stepping into the notorious role of Maleficient but she will also be starring as Thena in Marvel’s Eternals film. 

Ultimately, it’s Jolie’s teenage kids that have helped her rediscover herself. The filmmaker and humanitarian is mother to Shiloh, Vivienne Marcheline, Pax Thienn, Maddox Chivan, Zahara Marley, and Knox Léon Jolie-Pitt.

“When your children are little you feel more ‘mommy.’ When they are teenagers you start to remember yourself as a teenager,” she said in an interview with Hello! earlier this month. “You see them going to punk clubs and you wonder why you can’t go. I’m in this fun moment where I’m rediscovering myself.”

Maleficient: Mistress of Evil is set to release on October 18.