One proud mama! Angelina Jolie gave an update on how her six children with Brad Pitt have handled the coronavirus pandemic so far.
“I think that like most families, we have had this bigger thing happening with the pandemic,” the Oscar winner, 45, said in the March 2021 issue of British Vogue. “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 OK, that we entered lockdown in a different state of mind.”
Jolie went on to share things that her children — Maddox, 19, Pax, 16, Zahara, 15, Shiloh, 14, and twins Knox and Vivienne, 12 — have accomplished while in quarantine. “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,” she said. “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.”
The time in lockdown has allowed the actress and director to learn more about herself as a mother. The Maleficent star admitted that she “was never very good at sitting still” and believes that she is “lacking in all the skills to be a traditional stay-at-home mom” to her brood.
“I’m managing through it because the children are quite resilient,” Jolie explained to the publication. “They’re helping me, but I’m not good at it at all.”
When asked about whether she has reached a place of happiness following her 2016 split from Pitt, she acknowledged that it’s been a challenging journey. “The past few years have been pretty hard. I’ve been focusing on healing our family. It’s slowly coming back, like the ice melting and the blood returning to my body,” she added.
The Come Away actress previously spoke about how her children were coping amid the pandemic in August 2020. “They’re all together and it’s a nice big bunch, so everybody’s helping each other out,” she told Extra at the time. “We’re lucky.”
Jolie and Pitt began dating after meeting on the set of Mr. and Mrs. Smith in 2004, when Pitt was still married to Jennifer Aniston. The Friends star, 51, filed for divorce the following year. Jolie and Pitt tied the knot in France in August 2014, but she filed for divorce in September 2016. The pair have since been locked in a bitter battle over custody of their kids.
“Brad wants 50/50 joint physical and legal custody of the kids. Angelina has been unagreeable to those terms,” a source told Us Weekly in September 2020. “[She] will only agree to talk about an agreement if the home base for the children isn’t Los Angeles. The younger kids are in school in Los Angeles, which Angelina has always been opposed to. They are very smart and are eager to attend school in person [amid the COVID-19 pandemic].”
As for Pitt’s time in quarantine, the Once Upon a Time in Hollywood star briefly dated model Nicole Poturalski. Us confirmed in October 2020 that the pair had called it quits.
A month before the breakup news broke, a source told Us that “it’s doubtful Brad will ever get married again” after his divorces from Aniston and Jolie.
See the full feature in the March issue of British Vogue, available via digital download and on newsstands Friday, February 5.
