Jolie’s declaration about her newfound strength comes as further tensions surrounding their family emerged, with two of their children taking legal steps to remove Pitt from their surnames.
Jolie told Variety: “I think my fighting spirit is finally back. I lost it for a bit. I got kind of taken down a little bit and it’s coming back in large part thanks to my children, who are now older, and encouraging it.”
Jolie and Pitt share six children – Maddox, 24, Pax, 22, Zahara, 21, Shiloh, 20, and twins Knox and Vivienne, 17.
The actress said their growing independence had encouraged her to rediscover parts of her own life and career after years focused heavily on motherhood.
She added: “My kids are almost all 18, so now they want to see me traveling the world, they want me to get out and do things. They know me more than anybody, and they still like me, which says a lot.
“I think they’re very encouraging of me kind of getting back to aspects of myself that maybe I hadn’t felt as free to do.”