Angelina Jolie says her fighting spirit is back

In an interview published June 17, Angelina Jolie said her “fighting spirit” has returned after years following her divorce from Brad Pitt, crediting her six children—and their growing encouragement—to bring her back to herself.

Angelina Jolie didn’t describe a slow, polished comeback. She described something closer to a piece of herself returning.

In an interview with Variety published on Wednesday, June 17, the actress said her “fighting spirit” has come back after she admitted she had “lost it for a bit” in the years since her split from Brad Pitt. She added that “it got kind of taken down a little bit.”

Jolie, 51, said the shift started to feel real as her children grew older—especially when they began pushing her to live more freely. “It’s coming back in large part thanks to my children, who are now older, and encouraging it,” she said of her six children.

Her kids—Maddox, 24, Pax, 21, Zahara, 20, Shiloh, 20, and twins Knox and Vivienne, 17—helped guide her back, she explained. “It’s coming back in large part thanks to my children. who are now older. and encouraging it. ” she said. adding that they want her to “get out and do things” and explore “aspects of [herself] that maybe [she] hadn’t felt as free to do” before.

“My kids are almost all 18, so now they want to see me traveling the world,” Jolie said. “They know me more than anybody, and they still like me, which says a lot.”

Before the divorce

Jolie has said that, before her breakup with Pitt, she had pulled back from acting. “I had kind of quit acting before my divorce,” she told Variety. She said she was “focusing on directing,” and planned to devote more time to her humanitarian work.

Once the marriage ended in 2016, she said she had “little choice but to return to acting.” She explained that “the only way to be home more and for short periods of time being away or to make a good amount of money was to go back to acting.”

From there, she began taking roles that were “short, close by,” or that she could bring her kids along for.

After nearly a decade of bitter legal proceedings, Jolie and Pitt officially finalized their divorce in December 2024.

Name changes add another layer

The years since the split have also been shaped by visible family decisions—including name changes involving Pitt’s last name.

In May 2024, Shiloh became the first of the couple’s six children to legally remove Pitt’s surname. Maddox made a similar request that same month, citing “personal” reasons. Zahara followed in June.

Knox chose not to use his father’s last name on his high school diploma that same month, and his twin sister did the same while involved in the 2024 Broadway production of The Outsiders.

People close to the situation have described strain behind the scenes. The source material says Pitt was “devastated” by his kids’ name changes and is “not ready to give up” on his relationship with them.

A divided picture of the aftermath

Jolie’s feelings about the outcome appear to differ sharply depending on who’s speaking.

Earlier this month, a source told Page Six that Jolie “seems quite pleased with herself” about the “total success of her long-standing, intense, deliberate effort to alienate her children from their father.”

But another insider offered a different account, saying Jolie participated in years of family therapy with Brad and the children “for everyone to try to heal after the events that led her to file for divorce.”

“The children are now adults and make their own decisions, which deserve respect,” the source continued. “If they choose to distance themselves from him, it comes from that pain and harm.”

Jolie’s comments to Variety land in the middle of that ongoing emotional tug-of-war: one side emphasizing healing through family therapy. the other emphasizing distance as a deliberate result. What she described in her interview, though, is personal and immediate. She said her “fighting spirit” is back—and that her children helped bring it there.

Angelina Jolie Brad Pitt divorce finalized December 2024 fighting spirit Variety interview June 17 Maddox Jolie-Pitt Pax Jolie-Pitt Zahara Jolie-Pitt Shiloh Jolie-Pitt Knox Jolie-Pitt Vivienne Jolie-Pitt name changes The Outsiders Broadway 2024 family therapy