Quote from Oladosun Joshua Segun on June 4, 2025, 3:57 PM

Angelina Jolie is making a comeback in Hollywood after taking time to heal. She recently celebrated her 50th birthday June 4 and is stepping back into the spotlight with her latest film, Maria, where she portrays opera singer Maria Callas.

Angelina Jolie's real name is Angelina Jolie Voight. She was born on June 4, 1975, in Los Angeles, California. Her middle name, "Jolie," became her professional surname, distinguishing her from her father, actor Jon Voight.

"Doesn’t it make sense though?" When Jolie made her first late-night appearance on The Tonight Show in roughly ten years, in December 2024, she teased. "My grandfather died, and I remembered thinking this is not how they should be. This should be a celebration of life. And since I’m not afraid of death and I was comfortable with it, I thought this would be a great career path for me. I could make this better. I could do a thing here. It’s my fallback career now."

It is realistic to assume that she will not require the backup plan, considering her extensive record of credits and multiple acting accolades nominations. The Maria actress, who turns 50 on June 4, has acknowledged that she has changed her mind about her path.

Jolie has been selective with her projects in recent years, focusing on her family and personal growth. She admitted that she wouldn’t choose to be an actress today if she were starting out, citing the increasing public scrutiny in Hollywood. However, her return is partly influenced by her children growing older and becoming more independent, allowing her to take on new roles.

But it seems that her late mother Marcheline Bertrand, who aspired to be an actress herself, always expected to be in the business.

"She loved being a stay-at-home mom, but she really wanted me to be an actress," In January, Jolie told W Magazine. As the daughter of the legendary actor Jon Voight, it was also scarcely an unfamiliar route. James Haven, even his brother, works in the field.

"So, I don’t remember making the choice to be an actress. I remembered it made my mom happy, and I started to help pay bills and things like that when I was young. My mom was my manager, and we were a team. I always wanted to buy her a house and things like that."

However, Jolie's relationship with the craft shifted after her mother passed away in 2007 after battling breast and ovarian cancer.

"When my mom passed, it was harder for me to be an actress for a while," the former Changeling said, "cause I realized how much it was for her."

Jolie, who had a prophylactic double mastectomy in 2013 when it was discovered she carried the BRCA1 mutation, was unmoved by the attention she received in the profession, which only increased after her 2000 Oscar win for Girl, Interrupted. This was even before her mother passed away.

"Because I grew up around Hollywood, I was never impressed with it," She gave WSJ Magazine an explanation. "I never bought into it as significant or important."

She went on to star in films like Lara Croft: Tomb Raider, the Changeling, and Maleficent, to name a few, so her performances provided audiences enough to talk about, but so did her personal life.

Jolie married Billy Bob Thornton, her co-star in Pushing Tin, in 2000 after a brief marriage to English actor Jonny Lee Miller in the 1990s. They separated in 2003 after two years of marriage, despite the blood vial necklaces and tattoo tributes.

Brad Pitt, who she met while working on Mr. & Mrs. Smith and who was still married to Jennifer Aniston, would be her next romantic partner. Their connection is rarely talked about. Months before the release of the film, in 2005, he made public his separation from the Friends star.

Jolie and Pitt expanded their family during the ensuing ten years. Her children, Maddox, age 23, and Zahara, age 20, whom she had adopted in 2002 and 2005, respectively, were fathered by him. In 2006, the couple welcomed a daughter, Shiloh, who made her debut as Shi in May. Jolie and Pitt adopted their 21-year-old son, Pax, the following year. She also gave birth to twins, Knox and Vivienne, who are now 16 years old, in 2008. In 2014, after over ten years of dating, Brangelina got married.

However, Jolie declared the dissolution of her marriage to Pitt two years later. Days after an alleged airborne incident, she filed for divorce, alleging that the actor was aggressive while on board. No charges were brought against Pitt, who has refuted the accusations. The FBI and the Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services also concluded their investigations into the allegations.

Jolie and Pitt's court battle, which included custody of their children and their French winery Château Miraval, persisted even after they were formally proclaimed single in 2019. They would not come to an agreement on a divorce until 2024.

"Frankly, Angelina is exhausted," Jolie’s attorney James Simon said in a statement obtained by NBC News in December of that year, "but she is relieved this one part is over."

Regarding Pitt, he stated that he did not think it was a huge thing that their divorce was finalized. "No, I don’t think it was that major of a thing," the Oscar winner told GQ in a May 2025 cover story. "Just something coming to fruition. Legally."

The emergence and decline of Pitt and Jolie's romance served great material for tabloids. The Gia alumnus has stated, meanwhile, that she does not read what the internet has to say about her life.

“I’ve just been around so long,” she told WSJ. Magazine, “and there’s been everything said.”

Jolie has acted in seven movies in the eight years since she filed for divorce from Pitt. Even though this is no minor accomplishment, the number is less than the three to five films she would release in a single year in the 1990s and early 2000s.

What caused Jolie to withdraw from the spotlight? "We had to heal," She mentioned herself and her kids in an interview with WSJ Magazine, but she did not elaborate. "There are things we needed to heal from."

Jolie's last major performance was in 2021's Eternals, but she also directed 2024's Without Blood. Her most recent appearance was in Maria, when she portrayed opera singer Maria Callas. She explained her comeback to the spotlight by pointing to her kids' current stage of development.

"They’re a bit older, getting more independent," In August, she made this observation to The Hollywood Reporter. "I’m less needed and so able to go away for different periods of time. And they’re old enough to join me at work. It’s a new season in our lives. I’m very excited for them to be coming into their own more and more every day."

And Maddox with Pax, who were production helpers, did accompany her to work while Maria was being filmed. This would not be shocking, though, given that Jolie has already worked with her kids on other projects, such as producing the 2024 Broadway version of The Outsiders with Vivienne.

Despite her Hollywood resurgence, Jolie has expressed a desire to leave Los Angeles once her youngest children turn 18. She plans to spend more time in Cambodia and visit family members around the world.

“I am here because I have to be here from a divorce, but as soon as they’re 18, I’ll be able to leave,” The twins will reach that milestone in July 2026, she told The Hollywood Reporter. “When you have a big family, you want them to have privacy, peace, safety. I have a house now to raise my children, but sometimes this place can be…that humanity that I found across the world is not what I grew up with here."

Jolie, who is also a pilot, the creator of the fashion company Atelier Jolie, and a philanthropist, knows that being a mother will always be her favorite job, regardless of where she goes or what other occupations she chooses to pursue.

"It’s my happiness,” In November, she appeared on Good Morning America. "You can take everything else away from me. Nothing else matters."

Jolie is also ready about the upcoming ten years.

"Maybe because… I don’t know… maybe because my mom didn’t live very long, so there’s something about age that feels like a victory instead of a sadness for me," in 2021, she told British Vogue. "So, I like it. I’m looking forward to my fifties—I feel that I’m gonna hit my stride in my fifties."