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Angelina Jolie: How I Avoided Leading a “Shallow, Horrible Life”

When audiences first met Angelina Jolie in the mid-'90s, she was a wild child with a penchant for drugs, sex and vials of blood. How times have changed!

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Once the actress, director and mother-of-six decided to become more globally aware in 2001 while filming Lara Croft: Tomb Raider in Cambodia, Jolie's entire life changed.

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"Without the balance of doing things that actually matter in the world — and being part of the real world — then I would have been left in a bubble," the 36-year-old said at the Berlin Film Festival Friday. "That would have felt very empty and I probably would have just had a very shallow, horrible life."

Jolie — who's been with Brad Pitt, 48, since 2005 — feels fortunate to have been "welcomed into areas of the world where I see people and work with people who are survivors of war."

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"I have a real view of the real world," Jolie added. "I'm very touched and very moved by people and what they overcome. They have always reminded me to just wake up in the morning and be grateful that your children are healthy. Nothing else matters."

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