Angelina Jolie Opened Up About Her “Very Dark” Years Away From the Spotlight

After a several year hiatus away from Hollywood, Angelina Jolie is ready to step back into the spotlight. In a new interview with Vanity Fair published on Thursday, December 19, the actress opened up about going through a "very dark" time in her life and how she's finding herself as an artist again.  

"I went very dark for reasons I’d rather not explain, but I didn't have a lot of light and life within me," Jolie said, before adding: "Your light's dim."

Jolie, who shares six children—Maddox, 23, Pax, 21, Zahara, 19, Shiloh, 18 and 16-year-old twins Vivienne and Knox—with her ex-husband Brad Pitt, continued, "I also just needed to be home more, so I couldn’t commit large periods of time to pieces. The choice of what to work on and when was not a creative choice, often, the last few years, but sometimes the practical choice."

While Jolie didn't go into detail about what was going on at the time, she has been involved in several high-profile lawsuits with Pitt since they separated over eight years ago—including a custody battle over their minor children, a fight over the sale of their once-shared French vineyard, Château Miraval, and new allegations of abuse and manipulation. 

With Jolie's last acting gig being in Marvel's Eternals in 2021, she thinks her new film Maria "was the beginning" of her "starting to come alive again."  

"I needed a lot of kind people around me to hold my hand," she said. "At the end of the day, we’re very fortunate to do what we do, and we are spending a lot of time with big, deep, emotional feelings. If you don’t do that with people who you're safe with, it can affect you in very bad ways."

She added, "I wasn't myself for a while, so I wasn't able to give as much to my work for a few years. To feel like I could work again and communicate and to be with nice people—so much of what I do is collaboration with other artists. When it goes well, you’re creating together. When you’re with nice people and creative people, you learn so much about yourself and about life."

During Jolie's time away from acting, she kept busy and co-produced the Broadway musical The Outsiders with the help of daughter Vivienne, directed the war drama Without Blood, and launched her debut fashion brand Atelier Jolie.