Meanwhile, after making the promotional rounds in 2017 for First They Killed My Father, the based-on-a-true-story film she directed (and Maddox produced) about Khmer Rouge atrocities in Cambodia, Jolie took a more extensive break from work, more likely to be spotted at Whole Foods, Toys R Us or Target than on a set.
“I don’t enjoy being single,” Jolie told London’s Sunday Telegraph in September 2017 during her press tour. “It’s not something I wanted. There’s nothing nice about it. It’s just hard.”
“Sometimes maybe it appears I am pulling it all together, but really I am just trying to get through my days,” she continued. “Emotionally, it’s been a very difficult year and I have had some other health issues. So my health is something I have to monitor.” (She told Vanity Fair she had a bout with Bell’s palsy, which caused temporary facial paralysis, and developed hypertension in 2016.)
She returned to acting in 2019’s Maleficent: Mistress of Evil, which made almost $492 million worldwide, and—after starring in the old-school action thriller Those Who Wish Me Dead and Marvel’s The Eternals—is back in the Oscar conversation (and nominated for a Golden Globe) for her portrayal of opera legend Maria Callas in 2024’s Maria.