Angelina Jolie has revealed that she wrote the film “By the Sea” hoping that it would help her communicate with her then husband Brad Pitt. The couple began dating in 2005 while shooting for their film “Mr. & Mrs. Smith” and got married in August 2014. However, two years later, in September 2016, Jolie filed for divorce from Pitt.
“By the Sea”, written and directed by Jolie, deals with a couple 14 years into their marriage, who are growing apart due to communication problems, intimacy issues, and fertility struggles. “We had met working together and we worked together well. I wanted us to do some serious work together, I thought it would be a good way for us to communicate. 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,” Jolie told The Hollywood Reporter’s podcast Awards Chatter.
Jolie also wondered about her decision to write the film and said she does not regret doing it with Pitt. “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. A piece of art can be something that’s healing or something that’s difficult,” Jolie said. “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,” she added.
