A bonafide summer blockbuster. A secret wedding to her longtime love. Receiving the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award. A beloved project come to life. Angelina Jolie had an “amazing” 2014. The 39-year-old mom of six revealed in an exclusive interview with Us Weekly this past year was a great one, but she still had moments of insecurity.
“It’s been an amazing year. I married my love, my son [Maddox] became a teenager, and I got to bring [Unbroken] to the world,” Jolie exclaimed to Us. The Maleficent star married Brad Pitt this past August, her eldest son turned 13 (and started dating!), and she landed her gig of a lifetime directing the upcoming World War II drama.
But the Oscar winner admitted she had moments of insecurity too, especially when it came to securing her role as director on the buzzed about film, which is based on Laura Hillenbrand‘s book Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption and revolves around the life of WWII hero and Olympic athlete Louis “Louie” Zamperini.
“I’d only directed only one other film [2011’s In the Land of Blood and Honey], which was very small in comparison. I had to prove I could handle locations, the budget, balancing two plane crashes, the visual effects and the technical aspects,” Jolie admitted to Us. “I overprepared [pitching the movie to studio executives], with all these graphs, maps, images and boards that I tied together and put in a garbage bag. Then I didn’t hear anything for three days. It was terrible!”
The global superstar, despite her nerves, clearly landed the gig and then added another directing role to her resume with Indie flick By the Sea, which she helmed and starred opposite her husband Pitt.
“Brad is wonderful to work with,” she gushed to Us when asked if he’s been taking her direction well while filming. “It’s another little independent film, a very heavy movie about marriage and life. But it was nice for us just to be actors together and work hard and really push ourselves.”
With a new year ahead of Us, Jolie said when it comes to her career, she does “have a few more roles” in her, but ideally, she’d like to direct and continue working with her hubby.
“I would be happy when [acting] is over,” she admitted. “If I am lucky enough to have a career as a director, it would be a very nice transition. And then, when I can, Brad and I can work together.”
