Angelina Jolie Calls Motherhood "Everything" While Talking About Loneliness

The actress called herself a "deeply feeling person" in a new interview.

Angelina Jolie’s latest role as the late opera singer Maria Callas has hit close to home, with the Eternals actress previously revealing that she and the musical enigma share a “certain loneliness" in common while promoting the biopic. However, while the iconic soprano was known for her career achievements, Jolie opened up about how being a mom is the greatest role she’s undertaken in a new interview.

In an interview with The Sunday Times published on Dec. 1, the star appeared to walk back some of her earlier comments as she revealed that she was “grateful” she wasn’t as lonely as the late Callas, whom she plays in Maria. “I don’t feel that [loneliness] because I have family,” Jolie told the publication. “Maria didn’t have a family, so her work was everything. My work is not everything. Being a parent is everything.”

The humanitarian shares her six kids Maddox, 23, Pax, 20, Zahara, 19, Shiloh, 18, and twins Knox and Vivienne, 16, with her ex-husband Brad Pitt.

Jolie, who worked with her sons Maddox and Pax on the film, also said she was thanksful that the film gave her time “to stop and learn and listen and appreciate” her family – as well as serve some learning lessons. She told the publication, “They were able to consider the relationships in the film and the violence — things that sometimes you don’t have the opportunity to discuss with your sons, so I felt fortunate.”

During the interview, the Maleficent star spoke about identifying with her character’s work ethic as well as her vulnerability. "I'm a hard worker. And a deeply feeling person,” she said. “Maria is vulnerable because she feels and isn't sometimes able to protect herself from the loneliness or emotional pain. Because it's part of her life and work to be extremely human and live that way."

"You live through your communication with the audience,” she added. “For Maria and for me that has always been extremely important."

Jolie has previously opened up about how having kids “saved” her. In a September 2023 Vogue cover story, the actress admitted, “I think, recently, I would’ve gone under in a much darker way had I not wanted to live for them. They’re better than me because you want your children to be.”

She added, “Of course, I’m the mother, and hopefully that safe place for them and that stability. But I’m also the one that they laugh at — and I see them taking over so many different aspects of our family.”