Angelina Jolie spoke about the current state of Hollywood and offered her take on whether the film industry is worth joining as a woman in 2023. According to Jolie, if she were forced to do it all over again and decide on a career path in 2023 as a young actor, she would not be joining the ranks of Hollywood actors and actresses.
Speaking to the Wall Street Journal, she explained that much of this hesitancy would lie in the constant media presence and scrutiny from fans all across the globe. The phenomenon that makes Jolie feel like a fish in an aquarium has only been heightened in recent years by the advent of social media apps like Instagram, X, and TikTok.
It seems that privacy is the number one thing that would deter Angelina Jolie from a career in Hollywood, as she said, according to Fox News Digital, “I wouldn’t be an actress today. When I was starting out, it wasn’t as much of an expectation to be as public, to share so much.” That reluctance is telling when it comes from such a well-known star as Jolie.
Jolie was raised in the spotlight by her father, Jon Voight, as she quickly gravitated toward a life in acting like her parents lived. After beginning to gain traction in the Hollywood scene, Jolie quickly became a public figure in tabloids and shows like TMZ. Now, however, when everyone carries a camera in their pockets, she is more in the spotlight than ever.
The scrutiny that she has received as part of the film industry has taken a toll on the actress in ways that she never imagined and many never considered. Speaking about the health affects of such constant stress, she said, “My body reacts very strongly to stress. My blood sugar goes up and down. I suddenly had Bell’s palsy six months before my divorce.”
Jolie was, of course, talking about her high-profile divorce from fellow superstar Brad Pitt, which shook the Hollywood world as the pair of mega-stars found their marriage to be irreparably broken as they squared off head-to-head in legal battles.
Jolie also spoke about her closest friends, explaining that most of them are refugees and survivors of wars or battles that gave them unimaginable strength. She said, “There’s a reason people who have been through hardship are also much more honest and much more connected, and I am more relaxed with them. Why do I like spending time with people who’ve survived and are refugees? They’ve confronted so much in life that it brings forward not just strength, but humanity.”
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Jolie closed the interview by announcing her plans to move from Hollywood, a place that she no longer speaks highly about. She said, “It’s part of what happened after my divorce. I lost the ability to live and travel as freely. I will move when I can. I grew up in quite a shallow place. Of all the places in the world, Hollywood is not a healthy place. So you seek authenticity.”
Featured image credit: By Gage Skidmore, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=81055438