Angelina Jolie revealed that she once tried to take her own life using a hitman.
The Oscar-winning actress may have been a huge star in the noughties, but behind the scenes, she was struggling with severe mental health issues.
Jolie was just 22 years old during the dark period and decided to seek out an assassin to help with her problems.
She spoke about this harrowing experience in 2001, telling IMDB: "This is going to sound insane but there was a time I was going to hire somebody to kill me," as cited by The Mirror.
The Tomb Raider star opened up further in a 2003 The Face interview, revealing how she found the hitman.
"They’re not that hard to find in New York. As insane as it sounds, I think a lot of people consider suicide when they’re young," she said.
"I was very aware that so many people around me, like my mother, would feel as though they didn’t give enough or do enough if I’d taken my own life," she continued, per Daily Mail. "So my solution to that was if someone else had taken my life – like in a ‘robbery’ – then it would be murder and it wouldn’t be that anyone would feel they’d let me down."
Jolie claimed that she had "planned to take out cash over a certain amount of time, so there wasn’t a big chunk in my bank account".
However, the hitman she chose had a surprising response to her heartbreaking ordeal and ultimately saved her life. "He was a decent enough person and asked if I could think about it and call him again in two months. Something changed in my life and I figured I’d stick it out," she shared.
Years later, the Maleficent actress recalled that heartwrenching time of her life in an interview with 60 Minutes, which was cited by Daily Mail.
"I went through heavier, darker times and I survived them. I didn't die young, so I’m very lucky. There are other artists and people who didn’t survive certain things. I think people can imagine that I did the most dangerous and I did the worst," she said at the time. "For many reasons, I shouldn’t be here. You think of those too many times where you came close to too many dangerous things, too many chances taken too far."
Jolie is a mother to six children. She adopted her first child, Maddox Chivan, in 2001, and then adopted her second, Zahara Marley, in 2005.
She gave birth to her second daughter Shiloh, whom she shares with her ex-husband Brad Pitt, in 2006, and adopted her son, Pax Thien, in the following year. In 2008, she gave birth to twins Knox Léon and Vivienne Marcheline, who she also shares with her ex-husband.
The Eternals star told Vogue that when she became a mother at 26, her entire life "changed," explaining: "Having children saved me - and taught me to be in this world differently."
Jolie also reflected on how her children have impacted her mental health and gave her a reason to live. “I think, recently, I would’ve gone under in a much darker way had I not wanted to live for them,” she said.
"They’re better than me because you want your children to be. Of course, I’m the mother, and hopefully that safe place for them and that stability. But I’m also the one that they laugh at — and I see them taking over so many different aspects of our family," she concluded.
