Angelina Jolie Says She Doesn't Keep Many Close Friends Because She Has 'Been Betrayed a Lot'

Mar. 15, 2025

Angelina Jolie.Photo:Blair Getz Mezibov

Blair Getz Mezibov

Angelina Jolievalues her tight circle of friends.

While speaking toThe Hollywood ReporteraboutstarringinMariaand directingWithout Blood, Jolie, 49, also discussed appreciating those closest to her.

Asked which “close friend” she’d be calling in the early hours of the morning, the actress responded, “I don’t really have those kinds of relationships. Maybe it’s losing your parent young. Maybe it’s working. Maybe it’s being somebody who’s been betrayed a lot.”

“I don’t have a lot of those warm, close relationships as much that I lean on. But I have a few, and a few is enough,” she added.

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Angelina Jolie poses for ‘The Hollywood Reporter’ shoot.Blair Getz Mezibov

Jolie said Cambodian American human rights activist Loung Ung, 53 — who is the subject of the 2017 movie she directed,First They Killed My Father— is one of her “closest friends.”

“My mother was very close to me. I lost her. I’ve had a few friends over the years not be there for my family in their hour of need. I have a couple of people that I trust,” Jolie said, referencing her latemom Marcheline Bertrand, who died in 2007 at the age of 56 after beingdiagnosed with ovarian and breast cancer.

Jolie continued, “What did Maria Callas die with? Two trusted people,” while mentioning the late American-Greek soprano, whom she portrays in director Pablo Larraín’s new film.

“I’m not that person that feels like, ‘Oh, I wish I could just be alone so I could have my guilty pleasures.’ Because usually my guilty pleasure is being with somebody. I love doing something that makes them happy. That really does make me happy,” Jolie said.

Angelina Jolie on Aug. 29, 2024.Stephane Cardinale - Corbis/Corbis via Getty

Stephane Cardinale - Corbis/Corbis via Getty

The Oscar winner also appreciates it when fans approach her to talk about things they relate to: “It’s one of the nicest things — maybe the only nice thing — about being a public person, your connection with other people.”

“I realized when I came into this business, doing things likeGiaorGirl, Interrupted, and I expressed so much of my madness and my pain. When people connected to it, I felt less alone. So if somebody were to talk to meabout having gone through breast canceror losing their parent, then I feel more deeply connected with another human being,” Jolie added.

“To go into a room full of people you don’t know, and have a lot in common very quickly because somehow you’ve been in their home on the television or you made their children laugh or they know something personal, that’s really nice,” Jolie added toTHR.

source: people.com