Angelina Jolie (51) spoke about her six children in an interview with "Variety". In doing so, she made a remark that several media outlets interpreted as an indirect reference to her children's relationship with Brad Pitt (62).
Is she talking about Brad Pitt here?
Jolie told the trade publication that she had rediscovered her fighting spirit. "I had lost it for a while. I was a bit down, but now it's coming back - especially thanks to my children, who are older now and encourage me", she said. With Brad Pitt, Jolie has sons Maddox (24) and Pax (22), daughters Zahara (21) and Shiloh (20), as well as twins Knox and Vivienne (17). The actress described how her children encouraged her to explore new paths. "My children are almost all 18, so now they want to see me travel around the world, they want me to get out and do things", Jolie said.
She added: "They know me better than anyone else and they still like me, which says a lot. I think they really encourage me to reconnect with aspects of my personality where I may not have felt entirely free before."
Several media outlets interpreted the first sentence as a possible reference to her children's relationship with Brad Pitt. In recent years, they publicly distanced themselves from their father's last name. Shiloh led the way, becoming the first to legally remove "Pitt" from her name. Most recently, Maddox and Zahara also filed corresponding petitions. Vivienne already dropped the addition "Pitt" in the program for the play "The Outsiders" in 2024, while her twin brother appeared at his high school graduation in June 2026 simply as "Knox Jolie".
Jolie and Pitt separated in 2016 after many years as a couple, two of them as a married couple. The divorce dragged on for eight years and was accompanied by a bitter custody battle.
She wanted to give up acting
In the interview, Jolie also revealed that before her separation from Pitt, she almost quit acting. Instead, she wanted to focus more on her directing work and international projects. "But then suddenly the only way to be more at home and only be away for short periods or earn good money was to return to acting. I only took things that were short or nearby or where I could bring my children along", Jolie said.
