Angelina Jolie is one of the most recognized celebrities in the world. Her relationships have always been of significant media interest, from the time she wore Billy Bob Thornton's blood in a vial around her neck to when she "stole" Brad Pitt away from Jennifer Aniston.
Angelina's relationship with Brad was such an attention-earner that their first child was the first-ever to be memorialized at Madame Tussauds Wax Museum. Clearly, fans are obsessed, and it's not just because Brad was already a household name.
Angelina has tons of fans on her own, and despite that "homewrecker" label she earned a while back, she's earned plenty of positive attention for her charity work, awareness efforts for conditions like cancer, and for raising some pretty cool kids.
But long ago, Angelina was a troubled teen who was just starting out in Hollywood. Even after she found initial fame, Jolie ran into some challenges in what fans consider the lowest point of her career.
In a 2001 article, The Herald explained that Angelina had revealed in an interview that her lowest point came before she met and married Billy Bob. Though that relationship was arguably not the healthiest, the true lowlight of her early career was when Angie just didn't want to be around anymore.
The Herald quotes Angelina as saying, "This is going to sound insane but there was a time I was going to hire somebody to kill me." It was a "rather bleak" time in her life, said the actress, and she felt it would be easier for her family to cope with her passing if it wasn't self-inflicted.
According to The Herald, Angelina said she went so far as to contact someone who said they would agree to "help" her, but only if she gave the plan some further thought. Jolie elaborated, "The person spoke very sweetly to me, he made me think about it for a month. And after a month other things changed in my life and I was surviving again."
What a narrow miss, right? But many fans can relate to Angelina's expression of complete helplessness. Despite growing success in her acting career, Jolie still felt like life wasn't worth living.
Though everyone has their challenges and troubles, fans know Angelina has a history that's bleaker than some other stars'. Her estranged father, John Voight, was the reason why her mother had difficulties raising Jolie, say journalists. In fact, the separation is part of the reason why Angelina has never gone by Voight and instead chose Jolie as her surname.
Jolie had trouble connecting to others as a teen and was very self-conscious, she's explained in interviews, and that trouble didn't end once she found the first rumblings of fame.
Of course, Angie got past those challenges — and everything that's come after — and is now an inspiration to fans who are experiencing similar struggles.