After remaining relatively quiet on the subject of her divorce from Brad Pitt since the news broke one year ago, Angelina Jolie has spoken out about the emotional impact of her high-profile break-up.
In an interview with the Telegraph ahead of the release of her latest directorial effort First They Killed My Father, a biographical drama about the genocide perpetrated by the Khmer Rouge in 1970s Cambodia, the actress and humanitarian spoke candidly about dealing with the fallout from the breakdown of her marriage, and about being single for the first time in around ten years.
'It's been difficult,' she told the paper, adding 'I don't enjoy being single. It's not something I wanted. There's nothing nice about it. It's just hard. Sometimes maybe it appears I am pulling it all together, but really I am just trying to get through my days. Emotionally it's been a very difficult year and I have had some other health issues. So my health is something I have to monitor.'
In alluding to 'health issues,' Jolie is perhaps referring to her diagnosis with Bell's Palsy, a rare condition which causes temporary weakness or paralysis in one side of the face. In her recent interview with Vanity Fair, she revealed that she had treated it with acupuncture, adding that 'sometimes women in families put themselves last, until it manifests itself in their own health.'
While some recent reports have suggested that Angelina and Brad have tentatively reconciled and put their divorce proceedings on hold, neither star has publicly commented upon the rumours.
Jolie went on to explain how her son Maddox's Cambodian heritage motivated her to make First They Killed My Father, which is set to premiere on Netflix on September 15th. 'I really wanted Maddox to learn about Cambodian history, so I felt that this movie was a journey that we could take,' she said. 'And he went really deeply into the research and into the edit. And having somebody younger there to say, "you are losing my attention," or "that is too complicated," was really helpful."
'The children have been amazing,' she added. 'It's been so moving to see how much they have helped each other and how much they have helped me.'
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