Why I Don’t Recognize My Country – American Actress Angelina Jolie

American actress Angelina Jolie says she no longer recognises the United States, raising concerns about growing threats to free speech.

Angelina Jolie made the remarks on Sunday while presenting her new film at the San Sebastián Film Festival in Spain.

Her comments come amid rising unease over freedom of expression in the U.S, following President Donald Trump’s hostility toward critical media and the recent suspension of late-night host Jimmy Kimmel’s show after remarks about the killing of conservative figure Charlie Kirk.

“I love my country, but I don’t at this time recognise my country,” Jolie said when asked about the state of free speech in America.

“Anything, anywhere, that divides or, of course, limits personal expressions and freedoms and, from anyone, I think is very dangerous,” she added. “These are very, very heavy times we’re all living in together.”

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Jolie, 50, was at the festival to promote “Couture”, a film directed by French filmmaker Alice Winocour, which is in the running for the Golden Shell award.

She stars as Maxine Walker, an American director coping with divorce and illness while navigating Paris Fashion Week and developing a romance with a colleague, played by French actor Louis Garrel.

The Oscar-winning actress, who received the award in 1999 for “Girl, Interrupted”, said she strongly related to her character’s struggles.

Jolie has faced her own health battles, including a preventive double mastectomy in 2013 and the removal of her ovaries and fallopian tubes due to a genetic cancer risk that had already claimed her mother and grandmother.

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Reflecting on her late mother, Angelina Jolie became emotional, saying she often thought of her mother while making the film, stressing that women’s cancers carry a unique emotional weight.

“I wish she was able to speak more as openly as I have been, and have people respond as graciously as you have, and not feel as alone.

“There’s something very particular to women’s cancers, because obviously it affects us, you know, how we feel as women,” she added.

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