Angelina Jolie Admits That She Feels 'A Bit Down': 'Don't Feel Like I've Been Myself for a Decade'

Angelina Jolie told Vogue magazine that she deliberately began taking fewer roles in movies "seven years ago, only taking jobs that didn’t require long shoots"

Angelina Jolie arrives for the State Dinner in honor of South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, at the White House in Washington, DC, on April 26, 2023
Angelina Jolie. Photo:

STEFANI REYNOLDS/AFP

Angelina Jolie is opening up about where she's at in her life.

In Jolie's Vogue cover story about her new fashion house Atelier Jolie, the Oscar winner, 48, explained why she's taking on fewer film roles and even briefly wondered whether she is "still understanding who I am at 48."

"I guess I’m in transition as a person," Jolie said, after describing some recent confusion over where her personal sense of style may fall. “I feel a bit down these days. I don’t feel like I’ve been myself for a decade, in a way, which I don’t want to get into."

Jolie added that she began taking fewer movie roles “seven years ago, only taking jobs that didn’t require long shoots."

"We had a lot of healing to do. We’re still finding our footing," she told Vogue, noting that she believes founding Atelier Jolie has partially "been therapeutic for me — to work in a creative space with people you trust and to rediscover yourself."

Angelina Jolie Says It's 'Slightly Funny' That She's Joining the Fashion World: 'I Don't Want to Be a Designer'

Annie Leibovitz for Vogue

“I’m hoping to change many aspects of my life. And this is the forward-facing one," she said.

Jolie has made a point of involving her children, notably Zahara, 18, and Pax, 19, in the new Atelier Jolie fashion brand, according to Vogue. Jolie told the magazine that Zahara helped decide on founding the fashion house out of a two-story building in a downtown New York City neighborhood. The outlet also reported that Zahara and Pax have both "collaborated in" a number of Atelier Jolie designs.

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The actress last appeared on the big screen in Marvel Studios' 2021 movie Eternals. Last October it was announced she will play American-born Greek opera singer Maria Callas in director Pablo Larraín's next film, Maria. Without Blood, which she cowrote and directed, is currently in post-production.

Jolie stepped away from her longtime role as a United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Special Envoy last December. She said in a statement at the time that she felt it was "time for me to work differently, engaging directly with refugees and local organizations, and supporting their advocacy for solutions."

Outside of Jolie's work with Atelier Jolie, Jolie announced in August that she will work as a lead producer on the upcoming Broadway musical adaptation of The Outsiders. PEOPLE confirmed in August that Jolie's daughter Vivienne, 15, will help with the production as her mother's volunteer assistant.

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