American actress Angelina Jolie said Sunday she no longer recognises her country, voicing concern over threats to free expression while presenting her latest film at Spainโs San Sebastiรกn film festival.
Her comments come as worries grow over free speech in the United States, after President Donald Trumpโs crackdown on critical media and the recent suspension of late-night host Jimmy Kimmelโs show over comments on the killing of conservative influencer Charlie Kirk.
โI love my country, but I donโt at this time recognise my country,โ Jolie said when asked if she feared for freedom of speech in the United States.
โAnything, anywhere, that divides or, of course, limits personal expressions and freedoms and, from anyone, I think is very dangerous,โ she added. โThese are very, very heavy times weโre all living in together.โ
Jolie, 50, was in San Sebastian to promote โCoutureโ, directed by French filmmaker Alice Winocour, which is competing for the festivalโs top prize, the Golden Shell.
She plays Maxine Walker, an American film director facing divorce and a serious illness while navigating Paris Fashion Week and embarking on a romance with a colleague, played by French actor Louis Garrel.
The Oscar-winning actress โ honoured in 1999 for her role in โGirl, Interruptedโ โ said she related personally to the struggles of her latest character.
Jolie underwent a double mastectomy in 2013 and later had her ovaries and fallopian tubes removed to reduce her high genetic risk of cancer, which claimed the lives of her mother and grandmother. Visibly moved, she said she thought often of her mother while making the film.
โI 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,โ Jolie said.
โThereโs something very particular to womenโs cancers, because obviously it affects us, you know, how we feel as women,โ she added.
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