When Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt first hooked up, our interest in their lives quickly went
from curious to obsessed.
"Brangelina" later welcomed six kids, got hitched, and ended in divorce, but our intrigue
in the actress just heated up.
Here's the truth about Jolie's life as a single mom.
After filing for divorce from Brad Pitt in late 2016, Jolie initially moved their six
kids around to a couple of rental homes.
First was a Malibu estate owned by controversial X-Men director Bryan Singer, which was said
to rent as high as $80,000 a month, and second was a property in Hidden Hills, CA owned by
model-actress Denise Richards.
Variety reports that it leased for $30,000 per month.
By 2017, however, Jolie shelled out the mega cash, $24.5 million, to be exact, to buy a
six-bedroom mansion in the Los Feliz neighborhood of Los Angeles.
The massive home boasts some incredible history, in addition to being formerly owned by the
late filmmaker Cecil B. DeMille, silent film star Charlie Chaplin once lived in a smaller
house within the compound, as well.
But besides all that, the number of bedrooms had to have come in handy.
Shortly after Jolie moved in, Vanity Fair reported,
"It wasn’t for the prestigious history or the architecture [that Jolie chose this house.]
She needed a good place fast, somewhere secluded, with a lot of rooms."
Jolie has admitted that it's hard for her to relax sometimes, which maybe isn't too
surprising, considering the intensity of her public image.
In 2015, the Maleficent star revealed her biggest struggle since turning 40, telling
The Guardian it all came down to…
"Being in the everyday.
Staying still.
Because…I'm a bit on fire, inside."
"My life is, you know, I just have to schedule things properly and make sure I don't get
overwhelmed."
However, Jolie gave the complete opposite impression two years later, when Vanity Fair
described her household as quote "messy, relaxed, and normal."
Evidence of this included the rarely washed blanket that daughter Vivienne was said to
carry around, and Jolie's willingness to let her dog jump up on their white couch during
the interview.
When it comes to her family life, the actress has said that a typical day usually begins
by waking up to a state of chaos between her dogs and kids.
She told the BBC,
"Usually I just wake up trying to figure out who's going to get the dog out, who's going
to start the pancakes, and did anybody brush their teeth."
Following her split from Pitt, Jolie was said to have six nannies on hand, adding up to
one for each child, according to Stuff.
While the nannies were once supervised by the actress' brother, head "manny" James Haven,
Jolie reportedly ended up letting her brother go in 2017 when she became concerned over
the toll this role seemed to be taking.
A source told Grazia magazine,
"It was [James'] job to be there if any of the kids woke up during the night and to deal
with the nannies if they had any issues.
He was virtually running the household and it became very draining."
There's no doubt it must have been a lot to handle, but it's since remained unclear whether
Jolie kept the nannies on, or if she's been doing that work herself.
Either way, it seems like the Jolie-Pitt kids have been doing just fine.
The actress told the New York Daily News in 2014,
"I'm not a single mom with two jobs trying to get by every day.
I have much more support than most people, most women in this world.
And I have the financial means to have a home and health care and food."
Nearly a year after she filed for divorce from Pitt, Jolie opened up about a number
of health scares she'd been facing.
Revealing to Vanity Fair that she'd been diagnosed with both hypertension and Bell's Palsy, the
actress explained that her symptoms developed because she wasn't putting her well-being
first.
Explaining that she had treated both with acupuncture, she said,
"Sometimes women in families put themselves last until it manifests itself in their own
health."
"To face these issues together and speak about them and talk about what it is to be human,
I think can be a beautiful thing."
Fans may also remember that Jolie previously underwent a double mastectomy as a preventative
measure after learning she was at high risk for breast cancer in 2013.
She then later had her ovaries and Fallopian tubes removed due to possible signs of ovarian
cancer.
Since then, the actress has made a point to take care of herself.
She told the outlet,
"I'm being smart about my choices, and I'm putting my family first…I'm in charge of
my life and my health."
"I didn't expect there to be so much support.
And I was very moved by it.
It's connected me so much to other families, other women."
Since announcing her divorce, Jolie has made an effort not to break down in front of her
kids in order to give them a sense of stability.
She told Vanity Fair,
"I was very worried about my mother, growing up, a lot.
I do not want my children to be worried about me.
I think it's very important to cry in the shower and not in front of them.
They need to know that everything's going to be all right even when you're not sure
it is."
"I have had things that have made me not feel, um, I can breathe."
In addition to Jolie's efforts to be strong for her family, her six children have also
revealed their own strengths, sticking by their mom during a challenging time for their
family.
Jolie told The New York Times in 2017,
"They really help me so much.
We're really such a unit.
They're the best friends I've ever had.
Nobody in my life has ever stood by me more."
According to reports, it sounds like Jolie is one fun mom.
Per a source for Us Weekly, she's reportedly quote "always coming up with fun things to
do" when it comes to bonding with her six kiddos.
One of these fun-filled activities?
Attending the premiere of Disney's live-action remake of Dumbo.
The family outings continued that June when Jolie moved her kids to Albuquerque, New Mexico,
while she filmed Those Who Wish Me Dead.
Despite her intense work schedule, an insider told E! News that the actress made sure her
brood of six remained comfortable and entertained, claiming,
"They have taken multiple Target runs and love shopping and going out to eat.
Angelina spoils them with carts full of toys and sporting goods…She has had to work a
lot so she wanted them to have fun and stay busy."
"I think most of my performance is simply trying to entertain my own children."
Exes Jolie and Pitt have thankfully made great strides in their communication since their
2016 split, according to a source for Entertainment Tonight.
Noting that these days they hardly ever fight, the insider claimed the exes are able to quote
"discuss their children's plans calmly" and are "dedicated to co-parenting."
This, of course, is despite Jolie's seemingly abrupt and painful divorce filing, which was
reportedly triggered by a supposed altercation between Pitt and son Maddox, then 15, on a
private jet, according to TMZ.
"Brad Pitt is now under investigation for alleged child abuse by the Los Angeles police
department and the L.A child and family services."
While the alleged incident led to Pitt becoming the target of a child abuse investigation,
the case was later dropped.
Jolie has since avoided speaking negatively about Pitt in public, and has instead repeatedly
confirmed their joint dedication to their family.
When asked about the situation, she told BBC News,
"It was a very difficult time.
And we are a family.
And we will always be a family.
And we will get through this time and hopefully be a stronger family for it."
For his part, a source close to Pitt also told Us Weekly in 2019,
"It's a very healthy situation and Brad is grateful that all of the animosity is in the
past."
According to Us Weekly, this reported "healthy situation" has extended to Jolie and Pitt's
summer of 2019 custody arrangement.
While the six kids stayed with Jolie in New Mexico, there was reportedly still plenty
of bonding time with their dad.
A source told the outlet at the time,
"The kids will be back and forth to Los Angeles to see Brad.
Brad will also be spending time in New Mexico this summer because at times it will just
be easier for him to go there."
Fans may recall that Jolie and Pitt's drawn-out and highly-publicized custody battle resolved
with quote "joint physical and legal custody" by late 2018.
Since then, the Jolie-Pitt kids have visited their father regularly, including a family
sleepover at Pitt's house the night before his 55th birthday.
A source told Entertainment Tonight,
"The schedule has alleviated any of the planning pressures Brad and Angelina have faced in
the past.
Now the kids spend time with both their parents and are happy and thriving."
Having adopted three of her children from outside the U.S., Jolie seems determined to
make sure all of her kids grow up to be citizens of the world.
According to People magazine, the Jolie-Pitt family had been traveling quote "back and
forth [to son Maddox's home country of Cambodia] for 17 years."
And she took all six children there again for the premiere of her movie, First They
Killed My Father.
"There's so much happening, that I feel small.
And quiet.
And lower down the food chain than the tigers out here."
That same year, they also traveled to Namibia, where John was born, to open a wildlife sanctuary
in his name for elephants and rhinos that fell victim to poaching and other abuse.
Later in 2019, Jolie sent Maddox off to Yonsei University in Seoul, South Korea, where he'll
study biochemistry.
When asked where she'd like to be in five years, Jolie told BBC News in 2017,
"I would like to be traveling around the world visiting my children, hoping that they're
just happy and doing really interesting things."
Ultimately, she hoped to give her children the tools to access their strengths and talents,
apart from their A-list upbringing.
She added,
"I represent the right things to my children, and the world as it should be seen, not through
the prism of Hollywood."
Like pretty much every mother, Jolie sometimes questions her parenting skills.
In 2017, she admitted to Vanity Fair:
"As I go to sleep at night, I think, 'Did I do a great job as a mom or was that an average
day?'"
"When I was younger, I thought, 'Oh God, I couldn't be somebody's mother.'"
During these moments of self-doubt, Jolie has said that she longs for the advice of
her own mother, Marcheline Bertrand, who passed away from ovarian cancer, in 2007.
Jole told Elle France,
"I would give anything for her to be with me at this time.
I've needed her.
I talk to her often in my mind and try to think of what she might say, and how she might
guide me."
"Oh I don't wanna cry.
You know, she was just a very, very loving person."
Jolie has always praised her late mother's parenting skills, but previously revealed
that she didn't know if she could measure up.
She once admitted to 60 Minutes,
"She was the most generous, loving...She's better than me."
Unlike her own mom, whom Jolie says was a quote "full-time mother," the actress has
tried her best to balance homemaking with travel and her celebrity status.
But while the A-lister stays grounded in everyday routines, she also loves to shake things up.
She told Vanity Fair,
"I've been trying…to be really good at just being a homemaker and picking up dog poop
and cleaning dishes and reading bedtime stories.
And I'm getting better at all three.
But now I need to get my boots on and go hang, take a trip."
"I'm so excited, I feel like my world expands as their world expands."
"Yeah yeah yeah."
"I learn so much from them."
Luckily, her kids seem to be on board with their pick-up-and-go lifestyle.
Even so, Jolie went on to quote her youngest son, Knox, adding,
"He said, 'Who wants to be normal?
We're not normal.
Let's never be normal.'
Thank you, yes!
We're not normal.
Let's embrace being not normal!"
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