Angelina Jolie Returns to Acting With Maleficent Sequel

Eonline: After spending months behind the camera, Angelina Jolie is ready to step in front of it again.

She spent several months in 2016 directing First They Killed My Father (available Sept. 15 in select theaters and on Netflix), and now she's gearing up to star in her first movie since 2015's By the Sea, the romantic drama she wrote, directed and starred in opposite her then-husband Brad Pitt. "Right now I don't have anything to direct that I feel passionate about like this [First They Killed My Father], so I'll do some acting," she tells The Hollywood Reporter. "I've taken over a year off now, because of my family situation, to take care of my kids." As her children's needs come first, the actress adds, "When I feel it's time for me to go back to work, I'll be able to go back to work. I've been needed at home. I hope [to work again] in the months to come."

(The Oscar winner began flirting with the idea of retiring from acting in 2010, teasing in a Vanity Fair interview, "I don't think I'll do it much longer." Two years later, Angelina told E! News, "I still love acting—if I can find those roles that matter. But if I don't, it's nice to be able to shine the spotlight on another actress you think is extremely talented and give her the spotlight.")

Angelina says she is "most likely" going to shoot Walt Disney Pictures' Maleficent sequel next, as they're "working on" that now. "And I look forward to having some fun with that. Cleopatra, there is a script. There's a lot of different things floating around. But I haven't committed."

Eventually, Angelina "would love to" stop acting altogether and focus on directing full-time. "At some point, I'll probably just direct. If I'm allowed to. But you just don't know if you can have a career as a director," the actress admits. "You don't know how things are going to be received."