Angelina Jolie Says She Hasn't Felt 'Safe' in Years

Angelina Jolie is one of the most famous celebrities on the planet, which means that her life is constantly scrutinized. In recent years, the media has focused even more on Jolie after her split from ex-husband Brad Pitt, and the mom of six admitted to E! News that there have been times when she has "not felt safe."

"There have been times in my life where I have felt — and maybe I've hidden them well from the public — where I have not felt free, I have not felt safe, I have not felt like free of harm," she said. "I have felt small. I have felt cornered. And it has taken a lot to find that again, probably more of that today than I was in the last four years."

Jolie was delving into the idea of safety after being asked about the perception of her character Maleficent, a role she reprises in Maleficent: Mistress of Evil, which will be released on Oct.18.

"I think Maleficent is wild, I think there is that thing in all of us that is just not safe and not fine, that wants to just have fun and be our best self," the actor explained.

One of the major themes of the upcoming film is love, and Jolie shared her own ideas of true love during the interview with co-stars Elle Fanning and Michelle Pfeiffer.

"The real truest love pulls out your best self," she said. "It's what you value, what you're loyal to and what you're willing to fight for. So I think that truest love does that, and I think for Maleficient — it's the surprise that she didn't realize that she had it in her."

Jolie filed for divorce from Pitt in September 2016, with the decision reportedly coming after Pitt got into an argument with the couple's oldest son, Maddox, on a private plane. The couple is currently in a custody dispute over their five younger children, Pax, 15, Zahara, 14, Shiloh, 13, and 11-year-old twins Knox and Vivienne.

In August, Jolie told E! News that "these last few years haven't been the easiest, and I haven't felt very strong. There's something when you're not feeling very strong, where you push yourself."

Along with her role as Maleficent, Jolie will star as Thena in Marvel's Eternals, due out in November 2020.

"Sometimes you really feel low and you gotta pull it back up," she explained. "Right now, for Thena, I'm having to do so much training and she's so positive, so healthy and she's so aggressive that I'm often like, 'This is not gonna work.' But, you gotta push yourself."

Photo Credit: Getty / Axelle/Bauer-Griffin