Angelina Jolie has opened up about her feelings leading up to the production of her upcoming film “Maleficent: Mistress of Evil.”

Maleficent, a strong, powerful female character, had Angelina Jolie written all over her when she filmed the first picture in 2014, but it’s been four years since she last acted, and a lot has happened in her personal life since then.

“It was a tough time,” the Oscar winner told People magazine about resuming the character for “Maleficent: Mistress of Evil.”

“I’d been coming off a few years of difficulty, and I was not feeling very strong,” she added. “In fact, I was feeling pretty broken. It took me a moment to feel the strength of (Maleficent) again.”

With her ex-husband Brad Pitt, 44, Jolie has six children: girls Zahara, 14, Shiloh, 13, and Vivienne, 11, and boys Maddox, 18, Pax, 15, and Knox, 11.

Jolie, 44, did not elaborate on her difficulties to the entertainment news source. It’s worth remembering that she divorced her long-term boyfriend Brad Pitt in 2016 after two years of marriage. “This decision was made for the health of the family,” said Robert Offer, Jolie’s attorney, in a statement at the time.

The actress spoke to PEOPLE about her love for her family during the Los Angeles premiere of her new film. Jolie kindly replied, “My kids,” when asked where she gets her strength from.

Angelina Jolie’s children are her strength, and she had all six of them with her in London throughout filming. This time, though, she was unable to persuade any of them to appear on screen.

“I tried,” Jolie said. “Viv still can’t believe I made her a princess. None of my kids want to be actors. [They’re into] business, humanitarian affairs, things like that. Nobody was interested!”

Jolie attended the film’s red carpet premiere in Tokyo last month with her 14-year-old daughter Zahara and 18-year-old son Maddox, whom she reconnected with after sending him off to Yonsei University in South Korea earlier this year.

“I’m so proud of him, “Jolie gushed to Entertainment Tonight at the time.

Pitt has not paid any “meaningful” child support for a year and a half, according to court records dated August 2018, and Jolie planned to seek a court order for retroactive money. Pitt retaliated in court filings, claiming that he lent Jolie $8 million for her current Los Angeles home and that he had paid over $1.3 million in bills for her and the kids.