Angelina Jolieis one of the most admired and loved stars in Hollywood, havingproven herself time and time againas an award-worthy actress, a director and a producer. However, in a candid interview withThe Wall Street Journal, the actress shared her feelings about the entertainment industry, the broken state of Hollywood, and her beliefs that she would not consider starting out as an actress now.
Born and raised in Los Angeles, California, Jolie is the daughter of actors Jon Voight and Marcheline Bertrand, and made her name very quickly after appearing in movies such asGiaand the Oscar-winningGirl, Interrupted, whichearned her a Best Supporting Actress Academy Award.
With roles such as playing Lara Croft in twoTomb Raidermovies, her Best Actress Oscar-winning role inChangeling, and even dipping into the Marvel Cinematic Universe as part of theEternalsensemble, Jolie has also achieved great acclaim as the director ofIn the Land of Blood and Honey, UnbrokenandFirst They Killed My Father.Alongside her personal humanitarian efforts, Jolie has a life and career that many could only dream of…but whether she would do it all over again in today’s Hollywood is something the actress isn’t so sure of. He told the Wall Street Journal:
“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… Because I grew up around Hollywood, I was never very impressed with it. I never bought into it as significant or important. 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.”
Having been married to Billy Bob Thornton and Brad Pitt, Jolie knows exactly how hard it can be living in the constant spotlight, whether on or off-screen. Her comments on the state of Hollywood now speaks volumes about what up-and-coming stars in the industry have to cope with in order to make it in a place that sometimes seems to be full of as many broken dreams as fulfilled ones.
Related:Angelina Jolie’s Best Performances, Ranked
Angelina Jolie Returns to Cinemas With Maria, But Will She Return to the MCU?
Having takena conscious step back from the glare of Hollywoodin recent years, appearing in only a few on-screen roles such as inMaleficent,a title role she will play again in a third movie,and providing the voice of Master Tigress in theKung Fu Pandamovies, Jolie is currentlyfilming a starring role inMaria, a biopic of acclaimed opera singer Maria Callas. She is also part ofMaude v Maude, an action thriller featuring Halle Berry, which has been described in the same vein as a James Bond blockbuster.
Of course, there is thenher Marvel role of Thena inEternalsto consider. The post-credits scene of the 2021 movie teased the arrival of Harry Styles as Starfox, and the expectation that Jolie and her fellow costars would return in the future. So far, there have been no firm plans revealed forEternals, which did not fare too well with critics and, thanks to the Covid pandemic, did not get a good run at the box office. However, shortly after the movie’s release, Jolie herself explained that she would be happy to return to her Marvel “family” again.
“I loved being part of the family, so I have no desire to separate from the family, but I would be happy to play her again and explore even more deeply the struggles that she has. I think it’s fun thinking of where they’ve been over the years. We’ve got thousands of years worth of material. We can take her anywhere. I think that’s fun and I like the idea that we can pop up somewhere, maybe in other Marvel movies.”
Whether this still holds true is something that we may not find out anytime soon with Marvel Studios pulling back production a little to concentrate one bringing back the quality that led toAvengers: Endgame’s success. However, it seems likely that we will see the Eternals make a return in the future, and hopefully, Jolie will be back onboard as Thena when they do.
