"If I didn't have my films as an outlet for all the different sides of me, I would probably be locked up"
About this Quote
The subtext is about multiplicity and manageability. "All the different sides of me" hints at volatility, contradiction, even a flirtation with the taboo: anger, desire, grief, control, chaos. Jolie has spent decades as a public symbol people want to flatten into one legible story (sex symbol turned humanitarian, rebel turned mother, celebrity turned stateswoman). This sentence pushes back against that flattening. It suggests the self isn’t a single identity to "find" but a swarm of impulses to negotiate.
Context matters: Jolie’s early fame was built on a kind of glamorous extremity, followed by a very visible pivot into activism and institutional legitimacy. The quote bridges those eras by arguing that performance is not escapism but containment-with-purpose. Films become a socially sanctioned space to embody what real life cannot safely hold. It’s also a subtle defense of acting itself: if the culture treats performers as frivolous, she reframes the work as psychological infrastructure - the thing that keeps the person functioning when the persona is under constant surveillance.
Quote Details
| Topic | Movie |
|---|---|
| Source | Help us find the source |
| Cite |
Citation Formats
APA Style (7th ed.)
Jolie, Angelina. (2026, January 17). If I didn't have my films as an outlet for all the different sides of me, I would probably be locked up. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/if-i-didnt-have-my-films-as-an-outlet-for-all-the-28647/
Chicago Style
Jolie, Angelina. "If I didn't have my films as an outlet for all the different sides of me, I would probably be locked up." FixQuotes. January 17, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/if-i-didnt-have-my-films-as-an-outlet-for-all-the-28647/.
MLA Style (9th ed.)
"If I didn't have my films as an outlet for all the different sides of me, I would probably be locked up." FixQuotes, 17 Jan. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/if-i-didnt-have-my-films-as-an-outlet-for-all-the-28647/. Accessed 13 Feb. 2026.


