Angelina Jolie shares what being a mother means to her: ‘Nothing else matters’

Angelina Jolie opened up about being a mother and how being a parent has impacted her life.

In a new interview, the Oscar-winning actor, 49, talked about her new film Maria, Pablo Larraín’s biopic about the final few days of the famed American-born Greek opera singer, Maria Callas, before her fatal 1977 heart attack.

Speaking to Michael Strahan on Good Morning America, Jolie shared that motherhood is the primary focus in her life, just as singing was for Callas.

“It’s my happiness,” she said. “You can take everything else away from me. Nothing else matters.”

Jolie shares six children with former husband Brad Pitt: Maddox, 23, Pax, 20, Zahara, 19, Shiloh, 18, and 16-year-old twins Knox and Vivienne.

Sons Maddox and Pax worked with Jolie on Maria, which she called an “amazing” experience, and joked about how her kids had to bear through her early opera practice sessions at home.

“All of my children suffered through my early opera singing in the house before I got kinda good, which was a nightmare,” Jolie says.

Last month, Jolie shared how her singing practice made her emotional, saying: “I walked into the room with the piano, and somebody said, ‘Ok, let’s see where you’re at.’ And I got really emotional. I took a big deep breath, and I let out a sound, and I started crying.”

“I think we all don’t realise how much we hold inside our bodies, and how much we carry and how much that affects our sound and our voice and our ability to make sound,” she continued.

“I’ve been holding a lot for a long time, and that beginning and that sound, and then when that sound would eventually come, it was the best therapy I’ve ever had.”

“Honestly, I think I would tell a lot of people before you try therapy and spend too much time there, go to singing class.”

The Maleficent actor added in her GMA interview that none of her children have any desire to join her in acting, and prefer to stay private.

“They’re quite private. Shiloh’s extremely private,” she said. “They weren’t born with privacy, right? So I hope they can have that as they grow.”

Earlier this week, Jolie attended the Governor’s Awards with Knox, who stepped out on the red carpet for the first time in three years.

Jolie wore a shimmering gold halter-neck spaghetti strap gown with delicate cream lace overlay acquired from Los Angeles-based luxury vintage boutique, The Kit Vintage, while Jolie-Pitt opted for a classic black tuxedo and bow tie, reminiscent of his dad’s red carpet looks in the past. This was Jolie-Pitt’s second Hollywood appearance after debuting at the 2021 red carpet for Marvel’s Eternals.

Following the film’s premiere at the Venice Film Festival this summer, The Independent’s Clarisse Loughrey praised Jolie’s performance, calling it “career-defining.”

“[It’s] one of Jolie’s very best performances,” she declared in her four-star review.

Maria will be out in theaters on 27 November before being available to stream on Netflix in the US from 11 December and on 10 January 2025 in the UK.