Angelina Jolie once opened up about how much she struggled with mental health before and during her days of superstardom.
One of the definitive stars of her generation, there is truly no way to undersell just how magnetic a screen presence Angelina Jolie provides. The 49-year-old is worshiped for such movies as Girl, Interrupted, Mr. And Mrs. Smith, Maleficent, Wanted, the Tomb Raider blockbusters, and more. Cementing herself as a skilled mind behind the camera in recent years with directorial efforts like Unbroken, fans may often be inclined to ask what she cannot do. Yet, Angelina has been vocal in the past about her struggles with sustaining optimism about life…
Angelina Jolie’s past of ‘self-destruction’ stemmed from personal pain
Angie first appeared on screens at the age of 7 in the 1982 film Lookin’ To Get Out, which starred her father Jon Voight. Her next role wouldn’t come until 1993’s Cyborg 2 over a decade later. Before her stardom, on the other hand, she grappled with an internal struggle.
“From early on I felt a sense of wild, a fight in me,” she told People during an interview in the early 2000s. Raised by her mother, as a child she contemplated pursuing a future in funeral work, even taking home courses on burial preparations.
“I had a lot of sadness and distrust,” she remembered. “I came very close to the end of my life a few times.” Tragically, she suffered from an eating disorder, insomnia, and physical self-harm during her pivotal years.
However, she admirably addressed why she didn’t wish to go into detail on these avenues: “The stories tend to come out with a certain shock value, rather than an explanation that might be helpful to a 13-year-old.”
Despite this, she was willing to explore the place from which she believed her behavior stemmed. “I think all the self-destruction comes from wanting to disappear,” she argued. “Because I didn’t know where to put myself.”
Angelina echoed these thoughts when discussing fame
Over a decade after opening up about her struggles pre-fame, Angelina later echoed her distressing thoughts in an interview with the Wall Street Journal in 2015.
As it turns out, she was similarly uncertain of where to place herself even as a Hollywood icon.
“I grew up in LA, where focus is very inward,” she said. “I didn’t know why I was so destructive and miserable. I didn’t appreciate or understand my life. I was raised in a place where if you have fame and money and you’re decent-looking and have the ability to work in this industry, you have everything in the world.”
Meanwhile, she explained that this didn’t help make her whole: “Then you attain those things and realize you still couldn’t be more empty. I didn’t know where to put myself.” All the same, she has a home in millions of fans’ hearts.
If you are affected by any issues raised in the article or would like someone to speak to, please call the Samaritans for free on 116 123. You can also email them at jo@samaritans.org or visit samaritans.org to find your nearest branch in the UK. In the US, please visit Samaritans USA for more information.
You can also contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 800-273-TALK (8255) or text 741741 to get in touch with the Crisis Text Line. Americans can now call or text 988 to reach out and speak to a counselor.
If you or someone you know needs support, there are many eating disorder helplines in the UK here to help. Beat can be contacted at 0808 801 0677 while Mind’s contact number is 0300 123 3393.If you are based in the USA, you can call NEDA on (800) 931-2237.
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