Why a Suicidal Angelina Jolie Once Tried to Hire a Hitman to Kill Her, and Here's What He Said

With multiple box office successes under her belt, Angelina Jolie has amassed an incredible career. Her current net worth is an astounding $120 million. However, she had numerous difficulties in the early years of her career as a result of personal and mental health issues, which made her consider ending her own life. Hence, Jolie decided to hire a hitman because she believed that taking her own life would hurt her family. It would have been simpler for her loved ones to deal with her murderous death, the then 22-year-old reasoned, than with her suicide. "This is going to sound insane but there was a time I was going to hire somebody to kill me," she said.

In 2003 she told The Face that one can easily hire a hitman, "They’re not that hard to find in New York. As insane as it sounds, I think a lot of people consider suicide when they’re young." The Lara Croft Tomb Raider actress continued, "I was very aware that so many people around me, like my mother, would feel as though they didn’t give enough or do enough if I’d taken my own life. So my solution to that was if someone else had taken my life – like in a ‘robbery’ – then it would be murder and it wouldn’t be that anyone would feel they’d let me down." To ensure there wasn't a significant sum in her bank account, Jolie told the assassin that she intended to "take out cash over a certain amount of time." 

However, Jolie revealed that the hitman convinced her 'out of her murderous plan', "He was a decent enough person and asked if I could think about it and call him again in two months. Something changed in my life and I figured I’d stick it out," she said. According to The Hollywood Reporter, in 2011 while appearing on CBS 60 Minutes, Jolie stated, “I didn’t die young, so I’m very lucky. There are other artists and people that didn’t survive certain things.” The Salt actress told host Bob Simon, “I went through heavy, darker times and I survived them.” “Nothing I want to go into a lot of detail about. I think people can imagine that I did the most dangerous… and I did the worst and for many reasons, I shouldn’t be here,” Jolie said. 

Jolie confessed during an interview with Time in 2020 that it was ultimately motherhood that changed her perspective on life, "I was not a very stable youth. In fact, I never thought I could be anyone’s mom. I remember the decision to become a parent. It wasn’t hard to love. What was hard was knowing that from now on I needed to be the one to make sure everything was OK." She further told The Times in 2021, "I've had a very blessed life, but I've had my own challenges. I've had PTSD. You often feel that feeling of being broken and wondering what you're capable of, and being concerned you're not able to be enough to protect and care for those you love."