Angelina Jolie preparing to ditch US in July, says ‘I don’t recognize my country’
Angelina Jolie’s next chapter could unfold far from Hollywood.
Jolie has been waiting for her twins, Vivienne and Knox, to reach adulthood before making a long-considered move abroad.
The "Eternals" star "never wanted to live in L.A. full-time," a source previously told People. "She didn't have a choice because of the custody arrangement with Brad."
Vivienne and Knox, the youngest of her six kids, turn 18 on July 12.
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"She's eyeing several locations abroad," the insider added. "She'll be very happy when she's able to leave Los Angeles."
Jolie's decision to move abroad is rooted in one priority — her children.
"When you have a big family, you want them to have privacy, peace, safety," she told The Hollywood Reporter in 2024. "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."
She added, "I'll spend a lot of time in Cambodia. I’ll spend time visiting my family members wherever they may be in the world."
Jolie has a history with Cambodia. The "Girl, Interrupted" actress adopted her first child, Maddox, from Cambodia in 2002.
"Cambodia was the country that made me aware of refugees," she later explained in an interview with Vogue India. "It made me engage in foreign affairs in a way I never had, and join UNHCR. Above all, it made me a mom."
"In 2001, I was in a school program in Samlout playing blocks on the floor with a little kid and as clear as day I thought: 'My son is here,'" she revealed. "A few months later, I met baby Mad at an orphanage. I can’t explain it and am not one to believe in messages or superstition. But it was just real and clear."
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Jolie adopted two more children, Zahara and Pax, after beginning her relationship with Pitt. The "Fight Club" star later adopted all three children as his own.
Jolie also shares three biological kids with Pitt – Shiloh, Vivienne and Knox.
The now-50-year-old actress has said her decision to adopt was rooted in something deeply personal, not performative.
"When I was growing up, I wanted to adopt because I was aware there were kids that didn't have parents," she previously told Vanity Fair in 2008. "It's not a humanitarian thing, because I don't see it as a sacrifice. It's a gift. We're all lucky to have each other."
"I look at Shiloh — because, obviously, physically, she is the one that looks like Brad and I when we were little — and say, ‘If these were our brothers and sisters, how much would we have known by the time we were six that it took into our 30s and 40s to figure out?' I suppose I'm giving them the childhood I always wished I had."
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Her international ties have long shaped how she sees the world and, more recently, how she sees the United States. Jolie criticized the state of America in September while attending the San Sebastián Film Festival in Spain.
"I love my country, but at this time, I don’t recognize my country," Jolie said during a panel discussion, according to Variety.
"I’ve always lived internationally, my family is international, my friends, my life… My worldview is equal, united, and international. Anything anywhere that divides or limits personal expressions and freedoms from anyone, I think, is very dangerous."
She added, "These are such serious times that we have to be careful not to say things casually. These are very, very heavy times we are living in together."
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Jolie has been outspoken in her criticism of America for years, writing an op-ed for The New York Times in 2017 opposing President Donald Trump's immigration ban.
At the time, Jolie emphasized she wanted the country to be safe but claimed the policy would do more harm than good.
"We can manage our security without writing off citizens of entire countries – even babies – as unsafe to visit our country by virtue of geography or religion," Jolie wrote.