Apart from being one of the most celebrated actors of this generation, Angelina Jolie has also proven herself as an accomplished filmmaker and has crafted some critically acclaimed films in the last decade. But despite her love for working behind the lens, the beginning of it wasn’t easy as the actress struggled to manage the shift from being an actress to a director and the stress was overwhelming for her.
Following the abundant pressure of directing her first feature-length film, the Mr. and Mrs. Smith star struggled with her new job and explained how Brad Pitt comforted her during the exhausting period.
Brad Pitt comforted Angelina Jolie after she suffered a breakdown due to the stress of directing
Working behind the lenses came with its own sets of challenges for Angelina Jolie and overcoming it wasn’t easy for the actress. Following her passion for her ambitious project In the Land of Blood and Honey, which tackled a sensitive subject, Jolie was scared that another director would misinterpret her screenplay. As a result, she decided to direct the movie by herself and even though she was initially confident, the stress was too much for her to handle and Brad Pitt comforted her after she broke down into tears. She said,
“I had a complete emotional breakdown in the shower and Brad found me crying. I felt this huge responsibility and I felt very small. ‘Who am I to take this on?'”
The actress also explained how she had trouble calling herself a director, as she took the project by chance and didn’t think she was doing a great job at it. However, down the years Jolie would eventually overcome the challenges and would establish herself as a successful director and would craft several films, including First They Killed My Father, Unbroken, etc. But despite her love for the craft, she would eventually step back from directing due to family issues.
Angelina Jolie’s hiatus from directing was a result of family issues
Even though Angelina Jolie soon perfected her shift from acting to working behind the camera, the actress would take a hiatus from filmmaking after 2017’s First They Killed My Father. Although she was back onscreen and took a few acting gigs, Jolie didn’t look forward to directing any more movies for a while and fans speculated that her lengthy divorce with Pitt was the reason behind it. Jolie would later reflect on the situation by stating,
“I love directing, but I had a change in my family situation that’s not made it possible for me to direct for a few years. I needed to just do shorter jobs and be home more, so I kind of went back to doing a few acting jobs. That’s really the truth of it.”
However, after staying away from the realm of filmmaking for about 5 years, the actress is set to mark her return as a director and is currently working on her upcoming project Without Blood.
In the Land of Blood and Honey is available to stream on Apple TV.
Source: Young Hollywood
