In a shocking revelation, Angelina Jolie once hired a hitman to plan her own murder during a dark period in her life. The Oscar-winning actress, now 49, who remains embroiled in a lengthy divorce battle with Brad Pitt, first opened up about this harrowing experience in 2001.

At just 22 years old, Angelina was battling severe depression and suicidal thoughts when she made the decision to seek out an assassin. In a candid interview with IMDb, Angelia shared, “This is going to sound insane, but there was a time I was going to hire somebody to kill me.”

She explained that she felt being murdered would be easier for her loved ones to cope with than if she took her own life. “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 said.

Angelina believed that framing her death as a robbery-murder would spare her family the guilt.

In a 2003 interview with The Face, Jolie elaborated on the experience, noting that finding a hitman in New York wasn’t difficult.

However, the hired assassin offered an unexpected lifeline. “He was a decent enough person and asked if I could think about it and call him again in two months,” she recounted. This pause gave Jolie time to reconsider, and she ultimately chose to persevere through her struggles.

Reflecting on this dark chapter in a 2011 interview with 60 Minutes, Angelia acknowledged the dangerous situations she had put herself in during her youth.

“I went through heavier, darker times and I survived them,” she said. “There are other artists and people who didn’t survive certain things. For many reasons, I shouldn’t be here.”

Angelian’s transformation from a troubled youth to a devoted mother and accomplished actress is remarkable.

In a conversation with Time, she credited motherhood with helping her grow and find stability.

“I was not a very stable youth. In fact, I never thought I could be anyone’s mom,” she admitted. “It wasn’t hard to love. What was hard was knowing that from now on I needed to be the one to make sure everything was OK.”

Angelina’s career achievements are well-documented, including winning the Best Supporting Actress Oscar at 25 for her role in Girl, Interrupted.

Yet, her personal life has been equally complex. In a 2021 interview with The Times, Angelina spoke about her struggles with PTSD and the feeling of being broken. “You often feel that feeling of being broken and wondering what you’re capable of, and being concerned you’re not able to be enough to protect and care for those you love,” she shared.

Angelina’s relationship with Brad has also been a significant part of her public life. The couple began dating shortly after Brad’s divorce from Jennifer Aniston in 2005, and they became known as “Brangelina.”

They got engaged in 2012 and married in 2014, after having multiple adopted and biological children together. However, their marriage ended in 2016 when Angelina filed for divorce. The couple was declared legally single in 2019, but their divorce proceedings, including custody battles, continue to this day.

Recently, their eldest child, Shiloh Jolie-Pitt, made headlines by petitioning to legally drop Brad’s surname.

On her 18th birthday, Shiloh filed to change her name to Shiloh Nouvel Jolie, signaling a desire to distance herself from her father’s name. This decision was formalized with a newspaper notice in The LA Times, a standard procedure before the court approves a name change.