Angelina Jolie was a rather discreet presence on magazine covers throughout the year, so seeing her on the cover of Vanity Fair October 2020 issue, which hits the newsstands on September 6, is exciting for many of her fans. However, even though she chose to stay away from media exposure, this doesn’t mean that rumors have not emerged along the way. The actress begins the interview for the magazine precisely denying these rumors about her marriage, pregnancy and adoption plans.
Aside from declaring that there is no “secret wedding”, the star also states: “I’m not pregnant. I’m not adopting at the moment,” clearing some of the confusion that was created with these rumors. Having cleared up things regarding her personal life, Angelina goes on to talk about her latest project, being a director for the movie “In the Land of Blood and Honey”. At first, she jokingly tells the magazine what Brad thinks about the new challenge she embarked on:
“Brad thinks I’m going to be a nightmare. I had such a good experience he thinks I’m going to be impatient with directors, which I already am. I get impatient with people working on a film that have their head in their hands like it’s the most complicated thing in the world.”
On a more serious tone, however, the star readily admits that she feels the pressure building on and that she feels a little too exposed: “I’ve never felt more exposed. My whole career, I’ve hidden behind other people’s words. Now it’s me talking. You feel ridiculous when you get something wrong”, she tells editor Rich Cohen.
Talking about how it all started out, Jolie says: “I had the flu. I had to be quarantined from the children for two days. I was in the attic of a house in France. I was isolated, pacing. I don’t watch TV and I wasn’t reading anything. So I started writing. I went from the beginning to the end. I didn’t know any other way.”
Her beau , Brad Pitt, has had an important role when it came to validating her ideas as well as supporting her along the way. She recalls that after he read the script, “He called and said, ‘You know, honey, it’s not that bad.” From that point forward, she decided she wouldn’t let anyone else make the decisions about the script: “It was something I didn’t trust out of my hands. So by default I ended up putting myself in as director.” She also decided to use unknown actors from the region because, “It couldn’t be anybody else. It’s their story. It was important that they were willing to do it. If none of them were willing, I wouldn’t have made it.”
She also likes to emphasize the fact that Brad has had a major contribution in the project she directed: “He’d come in and say what he liked or what he didn’t understand. Like any woman, I would listen to most of it and fight a few things. He’s been so supportive. But it’s hard to separate the person that loves you from the critic, so I don’t think he’s a fair judge.”
Photo courtesy of Vanity Fair