Angelina Jolie is more misunderstood than ever when we first see her in costume for Maleficent: Mistress of Evil. The traditional Disney villain was recast as a multifaceted heroine in 2014’s Maleficent, yet most people still saw her as a scary villain, Even after her heroics in the first film. It was a narrative that spoke to Jolie.

“There have been times in my life where I have felt misunderstood, like Maleficent, and not accepted. Early in my career, I did feel small and like an outcast,” the star said at the film’s world premiere in Hollywood on Monday night. “The public associated me [with] self-destructive behavior, and not as a serious actor. People thought of me only in that way, which was hard.”

“Growing up as a young girl, I think people perceived me as someone who was lost,“ she said. “I was a girl from Orange County, and couldn’t have been more removed from the entertainment business. I worked at a Vons supermarket as a checker for a while. I didn’t know what I wanted to do with my life, until I started to pursue acting professionally. I remember walking into my first acting class up here, in Hollywood. I was 20, and I remember feeling immediately at home, like I belong here. I hadn’t always felt that. I found my passion for acting, and my love for it hasn’t gone away. It gave me direction.”

Maleficent: Mistress of Evil follows up some years after the events of Maleficent, with Aurora now betrothed to Phillip and Maleficent unable to let her go. “The real, truest love pulls out your best qualities in yourself, and that’s what children do,” Jolie said. “Being a mother brought out something in me that completely transformed me, similar to Maleficent.”

“I felt a responsibility to be a better person,“ Jolie continued. “Maleficent is trying her best. I think where she fails is that she doesn’t believe in herself. She questions herself if she’s good enough to be a mother. I had questions when I was first became a mother, and whether I was fit or not. That struck a chord with me.“

“The last few years haven’t been the easiest, since when I first played her,” she said. “I’ve been through different things in my life, and I was happy to play Maleficent again. She made me feel strong again. You have to go through everything—the ups and downs—because it leads to something bigger and greater, and makes you stronger.”

Angelina Jolie ‘Was Pretty Broken’ and Struggled To Play The New ‘Maleficent’

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.