Featured Article: Angelina Jolie for Elle US September 2019

Angelina Jolie covers the September issue of ELLE, on newsstands 8/27 and pens a moving essay that celebrates strong-minded women. Angelina shares her definition of “wicked women” and why the world needs more of them, reflects on finding her true purpose in life and what she tells her daughters that the most important thing that they can do is

Angelina on the definition of “wicked women” and why the world needs more of them: “But looking across the world, we have to ask, Why is so much energy expended to keep women in a secondary position? Looked at in this light, “wicked women” are just women who are tired of injustice and abuse. Women who refuse to follow rules and codes they don’t believe are best for themselves or their families. Women who won’t give up on their voice and rights, even at the risk of death or imprisonment or rejection by their families and communities. If that is wickedness, then the world needs more wicked women.”

On finding who we are meant to be in life, reflecting on her nearly twenty years of work with refugees and survivors of conflict: “Who we are meant to be in life is something we all have to work out for ourselves. I think we can often go off track as women, because our instinct is to nurture or to adjust ourselves to society’s expectations. It can be hard to take the time to ask ourselves who we truly want to be—not what we think other people will approve of or accept, but who we really are. But when you listen to yourself, you can make the choice to step forward and learn and change. I remember when that moment first came for me. I was in my twenties, meeting refugees in Sierra Leone during the closing stages of a brutal civil war. I understood for the first time the level of violence that exists in the world, and the reality of life for the millions of people affected by conflict and displacement. And I discovered [in my international work] my life’s work and purpose.”

On what she tells her daughters that the most important thing they can do is and the most attractive quality a woman can possess: “I often tell my daughters that the most important thing they can do is to develop their minds. You can always put on a pretty dress, but it doesn’t matter what you wear on the outside if your mind isn’t strong. There is nothing more attractive—you might even say enchanting—than a woman with an independent will and her own opinions.” Image courtesy of ELLE.

Angelia Jolie wears Dior on the latest cover of Elle US shot by Alexi Lubomirski with styling by Elizabeth Stewart. Hair and makeup by Adam Campbell and Toni G, manicurist Emi Kudo. Set designer Jack Flanagan. (source)

Click here to view last year cover featuring Emma Stone, here to view 2017 cover featuring Alicia Vikander, here to view 2016 cover featuring Cara Delevingne, here to view 2015 cover featuring Keira Knightley, here to view 2014 cover featuring Kristen Stewart, click here to view 2013 cover featuring Kate Upton, here to view 2012 cover featuring Katy Perry, here to view 2011 cover featuring Gwyneth Paltrow, here and here for 2010 covers with Julia Roberts, and here for 2009 cover with Jennifer Aniston.