Angelina Jolie is British Vogue‘s March cover star, and the actress didn’t hold back during her interview with editor-in-chief Edward Enninful about her home life during the coronavirus pandemic. Jolie spoke candidly about what quarantining in Los Angeles with her six children has been like and how the kids are handling this altered world practically one year in. Jolie’s kids are all in their teen years, save her youngest 12-year-old twins Vivienne and Knox.
Maddox, her oldest, is 19 and attending college in South Korea. (He has been doing classes remotely because of COVID-19.) Pax, her second oldest son, is 17. Her third oldest, daughter Zahara is 16, and middle child Shiloh is 14.
Life milestones have been altered for her family like many others, Jolie said: “I think that like most families, we have had this bigger thing happening with the pandemic. But of course you also have these life markers. We went into it having just gotten out of the hospital with Zahara [who underwent surgery early last year], and we were so happy she was okay that we entered lockdown in a different state of mind. But, you know, there are also these other markers of life: Pax going into his senior year, but not being able to enjoy all that it is to be a senior; Zahara finally getting her driving license, but she’s taking the test with the driver wrapped in the full outfit with the masks. It’s not how you imagine these moments. But birthdays go on, and I think that for many people, it’s made us all feel very human together. There’s something beautiful about that.”
Jolie added that she never envisioned being in one place for this long when asked what a typical day is like. Her kids have helped her with managing the household. “I was never very good at sitting still,” she said. “Even though I wanted to have many children and be a mom, I always imagined it kind of like Jane Goodall, traveling in the middle of the jungle somewhere. I didn’t imagine it in that true, traditional sense. I feel like I’m lacking in all the skills to be a traditional stay-at-home mom. I’m managing through it because the children are quite resilient, and they’re helping me, but I’m not good at it at all.”
She spoke about her relationships with them and how, yes, they do challenge her opinions sometimes. “They think that I’m a bit ridiculous, as they should,” Jolie said with a laugh. “And they all know me in different ways. You know, they’ve all crossed into that moment when they realize that there’s nothing special about me. I’m just older. I don’t have all the secrets. I just mean well.”
Jolie, when asked if she was at a happy place herself, was candid about how she is still healing as she settles into life post-divorce from Brad Pitt. (Jolie filed for divorce from Pitt after Pitt allegedly got into an altercation with Maddox during a 2016 private jet flight to Los Angeles.)
“The past few years have been pretty hard,” she said. “I’ve been focusing on healing our family. It’s slowly coming back, like the ice melting and the blood returning to my body.”
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