The Hollywood stars Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt have spent the past few years engaging in a bitter custody battle over their six children after filing for divorce in September of 2016. In a new interview with British Vogue, Jolie opened up about how she and her family have gotten through this difficult time.

“The past few years have been pretty hard,” she admitted. “I’ve been focusing on healing our family. It’s slowly coming back, like the ice melting and the blood returning to my body.”

Jolie and Pitt are parents to Maddox, 19, Pax, 16, Zahara, 15, Shiloh, 14, and 12-year-old twins Vivienne and Knox. As for how her children have gotten through the coronavirus pandemic, Jolie said that they are “capable” and “resilient,” and that they have handled the crisis as a team.

“I think that like most families, we have had this bigger thing happening with the pandemic,” the 45 year-old actress said. “But of course you also have these life markers. We went into it having just gotten out of the hospital with Zahara [who underwent surgery last March], and we were so happy she was OK that we entered lockdown in a different state of mind. But, you know, there are also these other markers of life: Pax going into his senior year, but not being able to enjoy all that it is to be a senior; Zahara finally getting her driving license, but she’s taking the test with the driver wrapped in the full outfit with the masks. It’s not how you imagine these moments. But birthdays go on, and I think that for many people, it’s made us all feel very human together. There’s something beautiful about that.”

Jolie went on to admit that her children look out for her at times, which has made her feel her age.

“We were on the trampoline the other day, and the children said, ‘No, Mom, don’t do that. You’ll hurt yourself,'” she recalled. “And I thought, ‘God, isn’t that funny?’ There was a day I was an action star, and now the kids are telling me to get off the trampoline because I’ll hurt myself.”

“Even at their young age they know that what matters is to feel safe and loved and stable,” she added. “To not see those you love harmed. To know your own mind and truth and not to live a lie.”

Jolie does not mind getting older, as she feels lucky to be alive after losing her mother to breast cancer when she was only 56 years-old.

“I do like being older,” she said. “I feel much more comfortable in my forties than I did when I was younger. Maybe because… I don’t know… maybe because my mom didn’t live very long, so there’s something about age that feels like a victory instead of a sadness for me. So I like it. I’m looking forward to my fifties – I feel that I’m gonna hit my stride in my fifties.”