Angelina Jolie is "rediscovering" herself.
The 44-year-old actress-and-director – who has Maddox, 18, Pax, 15, Zahara, 14, Shiloh, 13, and twins Vivienne and Knox, 11, with former husband Brad Pitt – has found a new perspective now her kids are getting older and she’s changing how she looks at herself.
She said: "When your children are little you feel more ‘mommy’. When they are teenagers you start to remember yourself as a teenager. You see them going to punk clubs and you wonder why you can’t go. I’m in this fun moment where I’m rediscovering myself."
The ‘By the Sea’ filmmaker has shifted her focus back to acting because directing takes up too much of a commitment away from her family.
She said: "I’m acting a little bit more now because I can’t be what my family needs me to be while directing – it takes a lot more time and effort to direct and I look forward to being able to do that again when things are better."
Angelina likes taking her kids to work because it means they get to see a different side to her.
She said: "They’re great on set. But when they see me doing some cool action thing, they think it’s funny because they know me so well..
"They’re used to seeing me as Mom in my nightgown, not very good at making breakfast and being silly.
"But yes, it’s fun and interesting because different sets bring you into different worlds, different cultures and different places."
The ‘Maleficent’ actress treasures the kind gestures her children offer that make her feel "like a lady".
She told Britain’s HELLO! magazine: "For most women, self-care is the thing we don’t do or it’s the last thing we do.
"We almost feel guilty taking time for ourselves.
"My mother passed away many years ago and I’m alone as a woman – but life still has lovely moments.
"On Mother’s Day my children make me breakfast and pick me flowers – they treat me like a lady.
"When I do take time for myself, I rediscover that softness I speak of… I also realise I have more fight and resilience in me than I knew. But at my core I’m soft and vulnerable – it’s not my dream just to be strong. I want to be allowed to be soft and I don’t want to be harmed or feel unsupported when I am."
Angelina Jolie ‘rediscovering’ herself
