Throwback: When Angelina Jolie Revealed She Wrote By The Sea Movie To ‘Explore Grief’
One of the most talked-about couples of the 2000s, Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie—lovingly called “Brangelina” by fans—are trying to settle their ongoing divorce battle in 2024. They share six children, including Shiloh, 22; Maddox, 19; Zahara, 19; Pax, 20; and twins Knox and Vivienne, both 15.
Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt met on the set of the 2005 film Mr. & Mrs. Smith, where they played a married couple. Their on-screen chemistry sparked rumors of a real-life romance, which they later confirmed. They also starred together in another film called By The Sea (2015).
Jolie once revealed in a 2015 interview, before the film’s release, to PEOPLE and Entertainment Weekly that the real inspiration behind the film was the loss of her mother, Marcheline Bertrand.
The actress said she wanted to explore grief and hence she decided to do the film. “Much of the film and my character are very much about my mother and my feelings about my mother,” she recalled in the interview back then.
Jolie further added that each character in the film represented a different approach to dealing with grief. Some have yet to face it, some manage to come to terms with it, while others are overwhelmed by it.
Jolie’s mother, Bertrand, who was the ex-wife of Jon Voight, died in 2007 following a nearly eight-year battle with ovarian cancer. Following this, actor Niels Arestrup, who plays the bartender in the classic, convinced Jolie to write and direct the film.
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Brad Pitt and Niels Arestrup praised the actress for writing such a nontraditional film. Jolie, who loved working within an independent film structure, found freedom to say what she wanted through this film.
As of 2024, Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt’s divorce remains unresolved, despite being eight years in the making. Although they were legally declared single in 2019.
According to PEOPLE, On the work front, Brad Pitt is currently busy shooting for his upcoming Formula 1-based film, and Angelina Jolie recently premiered her movie Maria at the Venice Film Festival, portraying opera singer Maria Callas in the biopic.
Although the bitter divorce proceedings have shifted the dynamics between the two and their kids, fans will still cherish their old timeless classic for life.
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