Brad Pitt Once Said Angelina Jolie Couldn’t Imagine Being in Her 40s

Angelina Jolie is older than she thought she’d be at her current age of 49. At one point, the Maleficent star didn’t think she’d even reach her 40s in large part due to her family history.

Reasons why Angelina Jolie thought she’d die young

Jolie felt she had a lot going against her when it came to getting older. She and her husband at the time, Brad Pitt, conducted a very personal interview with the Wall Street Journal in 2015. The two touched on several sensitive topics during the conversation, including the double mastectomy Jolie had when doctors discovered she was at risk for cancer. Pitt commented on how his ex-wife thought the odds of living so long were low due to her genetic history.

“I’ll tell you this about her surgeries: Once the decision was made, she was on the operating table two weeks later,” Pitt said about Jolie. “You have to understand that this is a woman who never knew she’d make it to 40. This is a woman who had watched her mother, aunt and grandmother become sick and eventually succumb, all at an early age.”

Jolie’s mother, Marcheline Bertrand, died of ovarian and breast cancer when she was 57. Her grandmother, Lois Bertrand, also died of cancer when she was 45 years old.

Pitt saw Jolie’s resillience in the face of possible death inspiring to see.

“Her drive, her absolute value in herself, is defined by the impact she can have during her time here—for her kids and for the underprivileged and those suffering,” he said.

Apart from her physical health, Jolie also didn’t think she’d live very long due to her mental health either.

“I went through heavy darker times and I survived them,” Jolie once told 60 Minutes (via E! News). “I didn’t die young, so I’m very lucky. There are other artists and people who didn’t survive certain things.”

Still, Jolie didn’t give out any specifics as to what she meant.

“Nothing I want to go into a lot of detail about,” she added. “But I think people can imagine that I did the most dangerous and I did the worst—and for many reasons I shouldn’t be here.”

How Angelina Jolie feels about getting older

After turning 40, Jolie didn’t resist the idea of getting older. Instead, she celebrated it. Especially with everything she and her family went through in the past.

“I do like being older,” Jolie once told Vogue. “I feel much more comfortable in my forties than I did when I was younger. Maybe because… I don’t know… maybe because my mom didn’t live very long, so there’s something about age that feels like a victory instead of a sadness for me.”

Back then, she was already looking towards her 50s.

“I’m looking forward to my 50s – I feel that I’m gonna hit my stride in my fifties. Though we were on the trampoline the other day, and the children said, ‘No, Mom, don’t do that. You’ll hurt yourself.” And I thought, ‘God, isn’t that funny?’ There was a day I was an action star, and now the kids are telling me to get off the trampoline because I’ll hurt myself,” she added.

Now, the actor won’t have to wait too long to turn 50, a milestone age she’ll be reaching next year. In a recent interview with IndieWire, she revealed that her opinion on aging hasn’t changed one bit.

“I’m 49. I do feel like an older woman now and I embrace that,” she said.