Yahoo Lifestyle 
How Angelina Jolie tried to save marriage
Angelina Jolie has opened up about how she attempted to save her marriage to Brad Pitt, revealing she thought working together again would help them "communicate".
The 42-year-old actress, who filed for divorce from the actor in September 2016, told The Hollywood Reporter’s podcast Awards Chatter that she thought she could recreate the feelings they had when they first met in 2005 working on Mr. & Mrs. Smith.
"We had met working together and we worked together well," Ange told the podcast about working with Brad again on the film By The Sea. "I wanted us to do some serious work together. I thought it would be a good way for us to communicate."
Ange wrote and directed the film, which focuses on a couple whose marriage is in crisis, adding that the experience didn't necessarily open the lines of communication.
"In some ways it was, and in some ways we learned some things. But there was a heaviness probably during that situation that carried on and it wasn’t because of the film," she continued.
"It was something that we were dealing [with]... things happen for different reasons, and things... why did I write that exact piece? Why did we feel that way when we made it? I’m not sure."
Despite the experience not working out the way she thought it would, the mother-of-six said she had no regrets about working with her estranged ex one last time.
"A piece of art can be something that’s healing or something that’s difficult," she added.
"I don’t know. I’m glad we did that film because we did explore something together. Whatever it was maybe it didn’t solve certain things, but we did communicate something that needed to be communicated to each other."
Ange also opened up about the challenges they faced in the decade they were together after meeting and falling in love on the set of Mr. & Mrs. Smith, during a time when Brad was still married to ex-wife Jennifer Aniston.
"Over the span of that decade, I did lose my mother. I did have my mastectomy, and I did then have an ovarian cancer scare and have that surgery as well, and other things of course that happened in life that you go through," Ange recounted.
It's a candid admission from the actress, who also recently opened up to The Telegraph about the difficulties she faced going through her divorce while also directing her latest film, First They Killed My Father.
"Sometimes maybe it appears I am pulling it all together. But really I am just trying to get through my days," she told the publication.
"I don’t enjoy being single. It’s not something I wanted. There are no upsides, there’s nothing nice about it. It’s just hard."
Want more celebrity, entertainment and lifestyle news? Follow Be on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Tumblr and Instagram
