Angelina Jolie contacted a hitman in New York City during her early twenties to arrange her own death staged as a robbery murder. She pursued this option because she wanted to protect her family from the guilt and self-blame that typically follows a suicide. The hitman responded with unexpected kindness and told her to think it over for a month before getting back in touch if she remained certain. That pause allowed other positive shifts to occur in her life, and she abandoned the plan while seeking help instead.
Jolie first revealed the events publicly in 2001 explaining the depth of her despair at the time. She stated:
“This is going to sound insane but there was a time I was going to hire somebody to kill me.”
During a rather bleak phase when she had come close to suicide, she decided to hire someone so her loved ones would not carry the burden of thinking they could have done something. The person she reached out to spoke very sweetly and made her reflect on the decision after which other things changed and she was surviving again.
She provided further details in 2003 noting
“they [hitmen] are not that hard to find in New York.”
Jolie described her awareness that many people around her would feel they did not give enough or do enough if she had taken her own life. Her solution was to have someone else take her life like in a robbery so it would register as murder, and no one would feel they had let her down. This approach reflected her careful reasoning to shield her family emotionally while she searched for and connected with the individual to discuss the arrangement and payment.
The disclosure highlights a vulnerable chapter before Jolie earned an Academy Award for her supporting performance in Girl, Interrupted. Details about that honor appear on the official Academy Awards website. She has since transformed those experiences into sustained humanitarian work focused on refugees and mental health support. Her contributions as a special envoy are outlined on the United Nations Refugee Agency website.
If you or someone you know is struggling, help is available 24/7.
Contact the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline by calling or texting 988.
The account stands as a testament to how empathy from any direction can create space for healing during profound crisis. It shows the critical role of even a brief delay in allowing life to reveal new possibilities and connections. Jolie’s path from that point to advocacy demonstrates the strength found in reaching out and accepting unexpected compassion.
