Angelina Jolie emphasizes the importance of parenting amidst her divorce struggle with Brad Pitt

Angelina Jolie gushed that being a parent is ‘everything’ to her amid her ongoing divorce battle with ex-husband, Brad Pitt.

The Maleficent actress, 49, opened up about motherhood during an interview with The Sunday Times while promoting her upcoming film, Maria.

With her portrayal of late opera singer Maria Callas in the biopic, the star has sparked Oscars buzz. She shares Maddox, 23, Pax, 21, Zahara, 19, Shiloh, 18, and twins Knox and Vivienne, 16, with Pitt.

In 2014, the couple tied the knot, but by 2016, they had filed for divorce and were legally declared single in 2019. Despite this, Angelina and Brad are gearing up for a trial next year to settle a legal dispute concerning their French vineyard.

While talking to The Times about playing Callas in the Netflix movie, she also reflected on the singer’s loneliness over the years.

Expressing her feelings, Jolie stated, “I don’t feel that because I have family. Maria didn’t have a family, so her work was everything. My work is not everything. Being a parent is everything.”

The actress added that she is, ‘grateful this film gave me a time to stop and learn and listen and appreciate.’ 

Brad is notably estranged from his six children – with both Shiloh and Vivienne dropping the last name of Pitt. 

A source recently told People that his kids haven’t spent ‘extensive time’ with the actor’s own parents for over five years. 

The insider continued that his six children only have ‘limited’ contact with Brad’s side of the family – but a separate source close to Jolie shared a differing viewpoint on the situation. 

‘Angelina has not blocked any communications or relationships; rather she encourages them to be in touch with their grandparents.’

‘The kids send cards and gifts to their grandparents every year for their birthdays and Christmas,’ the insider explained to the outlet. 

Earlier this month, Angelina attended the 2024 Governors Awards with son Knox as her guest. 

But Brad – who is amidst an ongoing divorce battle with Jolie – found it ‘suspicious’ that Knox made a rare public appearance with his mother on the red carpet.

A source told DailyMail.com, ‘Brad only gets to see his children when they walk on the carpet with their mom and the timing of this could not be any more suspicious considering it was just decided that he and Angie are headed to trial.’

‘She is trying to get under his skin after his recent win and using Knox to do so is odd. Knox wants nothing to do with Hollywood and has no communication with Brad.’

The insider added, ‘Of course, it bothers him that Angelina has turned them against him.’

Jolie ‘did this while they were all young and they didn’t even get a chance to make up their minds about him. He believes that, in time, his children will come back into his life.’

However, a separate source stated, ‘Knox chose to attend the awards with his mom, and they had a nice mother-son evening. Their decision to attend together did not have anything to do with Brad.’

Elsewhere in her interview with The Sunday Times, Jolie talked about her children Maddox and Pax also helping out on the film, Maria, as production assistants. 

‘They were able to consider the relationships in the film and the violence – things that sometimes you don’t have the opportunity to discuss with your sons, so I felt fortunate.’ 

And while previously speaking to The Hollywood Reporter in August, she further reflected on her kids having the chance to gain experience on set. 

‘Mad and Pax were on this one. Doing AD [assistant directing] work. They’ve done that quite a few times, and I think that’s good for them,’ she stated. 

‘Pax tends to do stills and he gets brought in, and [director] Pablo was wonderful and recognized that he was good at it.’

Angelina also revealed the reason why she decided to step back in front of the camera – and explained that she didn’t need to be home as much for her kids.

‘They’re a bit older, getting more independent. I’m less needed and so able to go away for different periods of time.’

She added, ‘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.’

Maria was directed by Pablo Larrain – who is behind other projects such as Jackie (2016) and Spencer (2021).

Along with Jolie, other stars that have been cast in the film include Pierfrancesco Favino, Alba Rohrwacher, Haluk Bilginer and Kodi Smit-McPhee.

In August, the biopic first premiered during the 81st Venice International Film Festival, where it competed for the Golden Lion.

The movie had a limited theatrical release in the United States beginning on November 27 – and will drop on Netflix on December 11.

The premise of the film is: ‘Maria Callas, the world’s greatest opera singer, lives the last days of her life in 1970s Paris, as she confronts her identity and life,’ per an IMDB synopsis.

In October, the official trailer for Maria was released – and quickly ignited Oscars buzz among fans.

On the topic of Callas being called a diva, Angelina explained to The Times that she has the aim to change the negative perception towards the word ‘diva.’ 

‘I’m a hard worker. And a deeply feeling person. Maria is vulnerable because she feels and isn’t sometimes able to protect herself from the loneliness or emotional pain.’ 

‘Because it’s part of her life and work to be extremely human and live that way. You live through your communication with the audience. For Maria and for me that has always been extremely important,’ the star said. 

Director Pablo Larrain also took part in the interview to discuss the movie – and shared he felt the late opera singer would have garnered different treatment if she had been a man. 

‘She was a strong woman at a time when that wasn’t really tolerated. But this movie is also an act of respect to her – she was stoic and strong, she was betrayed but she always stood on her own two feet, trying to do her art until she couldn’t.’ 

He also talked about wanting to bring the world of opera to a larger audience. ‘Angie and I often talk about Callas’s music bringing opera to more people.’

‘Maria Callas cared about the art form but she also wanted to connect with people. So hopefully this can get rid of elitism and bring people back to opera.’ 

Towards the end of the interview, Angelina was asked what a biopic about herself would be like – if one were ever made. ‘That gets the most insane question award,’ she began.

‘When you’re a public person and you’re playing her, you’re conscious of how you would hate for somebody to interpret your life or think they understand your life, so we tried to be thoughtful. Let’s hope there isn’t one about my life.’