Angelina Jolie has a new house and new outlook on her family’s new normal following a difficult year.
In a Vanity Fair cover story, the actress and director opens up about her world after splitting with husband Brad Pitt and her health, revealing she at one point suffered from Bell’s palsy, a condition that causes partial facial paralysis.
“I was very worried about my mother, growing up — a lot. I do not want my children to be worried about me,” Jolie told the magazine. “I think it’s very important to cry in the shower and not in front of them. They need to know that everything’s going to be all right even when you’re not sure it is.”
In the article, Jolie said her relationship with Pitt “became difficult” last summer, around the time she was in postproduction on her upcoming film, “First They Killed My Father,” which she directed.
She did not elaborate when probed further, but seemingly rejected the notion that the family’s travel-heavy, hectic way of living was a point of contention between her and Pitt.
“[Our lifestyle] was not in any way a negative,” she said in the interview. “That was not the problem. That is and will remain one of the wonderful opportunities we are able to give our children . . . They’re six very strong-minded, thoughtful, worldly individuals. I’m very proud of them.”
She adds of her children: “They’ve been very brave. They were very brave.”
Pitt and Jolie are parents to Maddox, 15, Pax, 13, Zahara, 12, Shiloh, 11, and twins Knox and Vivienne, 9.
“We’re all just healing from the events that led to the filing . . . They’re not healing from divorce,” Jolie added. “They’re healing from some . . . from life, from things in life.”
Pitt and Jolie separated in September 2016 and filed for divorce shortly after.
Jolie sought sole custody of the children.
Jolie and Pitt’s divorce is still being negotiated, according to Vanity Fair.
Jolie and the children recently moved into a new 11,000-square-foot house in the Loz Feliz area of Los Angeles, according to the magazine.
“We care for each other and care about our family, and we are both working towards the same goal,” Jolie said.
The tumultuous year has seemingly taken its toll on Jolie, who in the piece opens up about developing hypertension and Bell’s palsy, which causes muscle weakness.
“Sometimes women in families put themselves last,” she said, “until it manifests itself in their own health.”
She received acupuncture treatment and made a full recovery from her Bell’s palsy.
In the past, Jolie has been open about taking a proactive role in her health.
She had a double mastectomy in 2013 after learning she carried a gene that made her more susceptible to developing breast cancer. Two years later, she had her ovaries removed as a preventative measure, a move that sent her into early menopause.
At one point Jolie jokes with the reporter about developing more gray hair.
“I can’t tell if it’s menopause or if it’s just been the year I’ve had.”
Jolie’s film “First They Killed My Father,” about the Cambodian genocide, will be released on Netflix this year.
