Things were different back when Angelina Jolie first started landing major movie roles in the 1990s. And, she says, if the world was as it is today when she first started her career, she might not have become an actor at all.

“I wouldn’t be an actress today,” the Oscar winner told WSJ. Magazine in a recent profile interview. At least, she wouldn’t be a Hollywood actor—maybe theater.

“When I was starting out, it wasn’t as much of an expectation to be as public, to share so much,” she explained, in reference to the fact that she can’t step outside her door these days without making the front pages of the tabloids.

Because of her famous parents, Jon Voight and Marcheline Bertrand, Jolie “grew up around Hollywood,” but she didn’t find it all that impressive. “I
never bought into it as significant or important,” she told WSJ, adding, “I grew up in quite a shallow place.” Which might also be why Jolie doesn’t act much at all anymore. “Of all the places in the world, Hollywood is not
a healthy place. So you seek authenticity,” she said.

Back in September, Angelina Jolie told Vogue that she began taking fewer acting roles in 2016 for her own mental health. “I guess I’m in transition as a person. I feel a bit down these days. I don’t feel like I’ve been myself for a decade, in a way, which I don’t want to get into,” she said. “We had a lot of healing to do. We’re still finding our footing.”