Angelina Jolie signals plans to leave Hollywood behind

In a remarkably candid interview, Angelina Jolie has revealed why she’s done with showbiz, and what she wants to do next.

Angelina Jolie says she plans to leave Hollywood behind in favour of a quieter life overseas.

The Oscar-winning actress, one of the most famous screen stars of this generation with more than 60 credits to her name, told Wall Street Journal she wants to move from her home in California to southeast Asia.

Jolie, 48, who hasn’t appeared in a film since Marvel’s Eternals in 2021, said there was little tying her to the US, musing her closest friends were “refugees”.

“I wouldn’t be an actress today,” said Jolie, who shot to fame in the 1999 film Girl, Interrupted. “When I was starting out, it wasn’t as much of an expectation to be as public, to share so much.

“Because I grew up around Hollywood, I was never very impressed with it. I never bought into it as significant or important.”

Angelina Jolie plans to leave Hollywood behind. Picture: Vittorio Zunino Celotto/Getty Images for RFF

Her plans to move have proved difficult following Jolie’s headline-making split from husband Brad Pitt in 2016.

The couple, who were married for two years and together for 12, share six children. Following a lengthy custody battle, Jolie now has sole custody of their minors, while Pitt has visitation rights.

“It’s part of what happened after my divorce. I lost the ability to live and travel as freely,” Jolie shared.

“I will move when I can.

“I grew up in quite a shallow place. Of all the places in the world, Hollywood is not a healthy place. So you seek authenticity.

“I realised my closest friends are refugees. Maybe four out of six of the women that I am close to are from war and conflict.”

Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie split in 2016. Picture: Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images

In the remarkably candid interview, Jolie also confirmed she wasn’t dating anyone.

“I don’t really have a social life,” she said, adding her children were her best friends.

Pitt, 59, for his part, has since moved on with jewellery designer Ines de Ramon, who he’s been dating for a year.

Jolie, who currently lives in a $US25 million mansion in Los Feliz, Los Angeles, already owns a home in Cambodia – a remote property in Battembang which she bought in 2002.

Jolie worked with the United Nations for 20 years, departing her position in late 2022 to work “more directly” with refugees. Picture: Olympia De Maismont/AFP

Jolie with her children: Shiloh Jolie-Pitt, Zahara Jolie-Pitt, Vivienne Jolie-Pitt, Maddox Jolie-Pitt and Knox Jolie-Pitt. Picture: Tim P. Whitby/Getty Images

The actress, who has long been recognised for her humanitarian work, fell in love with the country two decades ago while filming 2001’s Lara Croft: Tomb Raider.

Jolie returned to Cambodia a year later to adopt her first child Maddox, now 22.

On the professional front, Jolie is busier than she’s been in years, with five upcoming projects in both pre and post-production, including Maleficent 3 and Maria, the latter of which she plays real-life opera singer Maria Callas during her final days in 1970s Paris.

Jolie is also set to open a sustainable clothing store, Atelier Jolie, in New York.

Originally published as Angelina Jolie signals plans to leave Hollywood behind