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Angelina Jolie is diagnosed with partial facial paralysis

Photo credit: Mert Alas & Marcus Piggott exclusively for Vanity Fair
Photo credit: Mert Alas & Marcus Piggott exclusively for Vanity Fair

From Digital Spy

Angelina Jolie was diagnosed with two serious medical conditions following her split from Brad Pitt last year.

The couple made headlines worldwide last autumn when Angelina filed for divorce from Brad, the first step in what would become a contentious legal battle between the one-time Mr. & Mrs. Smith co-stars.

Photo credit: Mert Alas & Marcus Piggott exclusively for Vanity Fair
Photo credit: Mert Alas & Marcus Piggott exclusively for Vanity Fair

Now, in a wide-ranging interview with Vanity Fair, Jolie has revealed that she was subsequently diagnosed with Bell's palsy - a condition causing paralysis of facial muscles - and high blood pressure.

"I actually feel more of a woman because I feel like I'm being smart about my choices, and I'm putting my family first, and I'm in charge of my life and my health," she says. " I think that's what makes a woman complete… Sometimes women in families put themselves last until it manifests itself in their own health."

Because of her commitment to focusing on her health, Jolie will be backing away from film work for the time being (following the release of her already-finished Netflix movie First They Killed My Father).

"I'm just wanting to make the proper breakfast and keep the house," she explains. "That's my passion. At the request of my kids, I'm taking cooking classes. As I go to sleep at night, I think, 'Did I do a great job as a mom or was that an average day?'

"I've been trying for nine months to be really good at just being a homemaker and picking up dog poop and cleaning dishes and reading bedtime stories. And I'm getting better at all three."

Photo credit: Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for WSJ. Magazine 2015 Innovator Awards
Photo credit: Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for WSJ. Magazine 2015 Innovator Awards

Of course, her split from Pitt remains a topic of huge interest to the public - but the filmmaker and actress is reluctant to give too many details.

"Things got bad. I didn't want to use that word," she admits, adding: "Things became 'difficult'."

As for the toll the split has had on the couple's six children, Jolie says: "[Our lifestyle] was not in any way a negative. That was not the problem.

"That is and will remain one of the wonderful opportunities we are able to give our children… [Knox] once said, 'Who wants to be normal? We're not normal. Let's never be normal'. Thank you – yes! We're not normal. Let's embrace being not normal."

Photo credit: Mert Alas & Marcus Piggott exclusively for Vanity Fair
Photo credit: Mert Alas & Marcus Piggott exclusively for Vanity Fair

The full interview can be read in the September issue of Vanity Fair. Jolie's film First They Killed My Father will premiere on Netflix later in the year.

Watch a trailer for First They Killed My Father below:


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