‘Check In With Each Other’ – Angelina Jolie Calls For Kindness During Lockdown

If you have housemates, a partner, a child or a particularly lively pet, you'll know that sometimes Zoom meetings can get a little frenetic. Even Angelina Jolie discovered that this week, when her dogs interrupted a moving interview between her and California Surgeon General Dr. Nadine Burke Harris. As she questioned Nadine about her work, loud barking could be heard from upstairs. 'There's the doing meetings from home', she laughed. Always good to be reminded that we have at least one thing in common with the Oscar-winning actress.

Through her role as Contributing Editor of TIME, Angelina led a video conference with the esteemed doctor, an expert in child trauma, discussing how the coronavirus pandemic - and the resulting lockdown - may harm young people. With children spending more time with parents, those experiencing abuse are at more risk. And with no schools in session, teachers and other adults are not having the opportunity to spot and report incidents of violence.

'I really do hope people hear this, and they do reach out, and they do pay more attention, and they are not sitting in a moment when they think, "Well maybe, but it’s not my business,"' Angelina explained, asking viewers to be mindful of neighbours and friends.

'I think it is so important that people hear that. To love each other, check in with each other. Be there, be a support group, keep your eyes open whether you are a teacher or a friend.'

Nadine echoed the sentiment. 'You don’t have to fix it, you don’t have to solve it. You don’t have to worry about not being enough,' she said. 'You just have to be willing to be there and listen and to be that shoulder and those open arms.'

Angelina, who last year starred in Maleficent: Mistress Of Evil and will soon star in Marvel's The Eternals has long balanced her Hollywood career with charity work. She is also a Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations.

READ MORE: How To Celebrate A Birthday In Lockdown