Angelina Jolie reveals how she avoids having an 'empty life'

Angelina Jolie would seem to have it all – including six gorgeous children, a passion for humanitarianism and a burgeoning career behind the camera – but even she has to strive to find balance and avoid having an "empty life". The 42-year-old actress tells Deadline that she does all that she can to ensure that each facet of her world helps her feel as though she's contributing to the "bigger picture". "You have your creative, and you have your work, and every day of your life is going to be about somehow growing as a person," she explained. "Somehow feeling you can contribute to the extent that you can..."

She continued: "We're all trying to find balance, as people. I think to be a balanced person, you have to find those things that you just purely enjoy. But, of course, if you aren't participating in the bigger picture of life, and in being somehow useful, and you aren't doing something and growing, then really, you'll find you're not very happy. Really, you'll have quite an empty life."

The star, seen at this month's BAFTA awards in London, says, 'If you aren't being somehow useful... then really, you'll find you're not very happy' Photo: WENN

Angelina recently acted as producer on Nora Twomey's Oscar-nominated animated feature The Breadwinner, which tells the story of a young Afghan girl called Parvana who is forced to dress as a boy to provide for her family after her father is sent to prison. The film resonated with Angelina, and she hopes that it will also "engage people emotionally" as they watch it. "I think if you can't travel to places, then we can bring these places and these people closer to you through film," she explained.

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The star has been focused on her career and life as a single mom since her split from actor Brad Pitt, with whom she has six children – Maddox, 16, Pax, 14, Zahara, 13, Shiloh, 11, and nine-year-old twins Vivienne and Knox – in September 2016.

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