How It Began
To figure out why a couple broke up, it is important to take a walk down memory lane and see how they actually got together. This is what Angelina Jolie had to do to understand why her marriage to Brad Pitt was crumbling before her eyes.
Jolie sought the help of a therapist and began opening up about her previous relationships, which gave her most of the answers she was looking for.
Previous Marriages
What her couple's counselor first asked her was whether she or Brad had been married before. As we all know, the truth was that they both had!
It was then vital to understand why their previous marriages had failed, to then see whether history was repeating itself. Before she reached out to Brad, she worked with this therapist on her own, trying to figure out her own issues first.
A Painful Past
Many people have forgotten this, but Angelina Jolie had been married twice before. She had two disastrous relationships with Jonny Lee Miller and Billy Bob Thornton.
After she parted ways with her second husband, Jolie adopted her first son, Maddox, and decided to raise him on her own. She thought she wasn't the kind of person who would get married again, until 2005, when everything changed...
New Beginnings
In 2005, Jolie was set to film a movie called Mr. & Mrs. Smith co-starring Brad Pitt. She had been in numerous films before with various celebrities, so the thought of falling in love with Pitt had never crossed her mind.
Pitt on the other hand, was too busy being in love with his wife at the time, a fellow A-list actress. We all know who we're talking about, right?
Brad's Story
Brad Pitt was married to Jennifer Aniston at the time, and the two were the hottest couple in Hollywood. Whenever they were in public together, they were all smiles, but behind closed doors, there was trouble in paradise.
Although their marriage seemed perfect, that was far from the truth, and Pitt found something in Angelina that he did not find in Jennifer.
A Missing Piece
While Brad was very happy with Jennifer, there was something that was missing in their marriage. Jennifer did not want to have kids, while Brad had always dreamed of becoming a father someday.
Brad was hoping she would change her mind, while she was expecting him to change his. This issue was a ticking time bomb waiting to explode.
The Answer
Just when things were getting complicated between Brad and Jennifer, he met Angelina on the set of Mr. & Mrs. Smith. The two hit it off right away and there was this undeniable chemistry between them.
As the days went by, Brad and Angelina got to know each other, and they learned that they both had the same goals in life. But what happened then?
Big Dreams
Angelina was already in the process of adopting children, and Brad's dream had always been to form a big family. Then, he realized that he could have with Angelina what he would never get from his marriage to Jennifer.
Then, their affair began. They had to keep it secret because it would be a huge scandal in the media, but that wasn't going to be easy.
Secrets
Brad was still married to Jennifer when he started dating Angelina. The two tried to hide it, but a movie set is smaller than you might thing. Word got around, and soon, everyone knew about it.
Then, the rumor reached the press, and it all became a huge scandal. Jennifer had been betrayed and humiliated, but Brad and Angelina denied everything.
In Denial
The new couple was madly in love, and this wasn't just some affair. But because of their celebrity status, they had to tread carefully and keep things secret.
Brad had to divorce Jennifer before he could finally confess his love for Angelina publicly, and this would take some time. But then, something happened that forced them to come clean.
The Pregnancy
After denying that they were together for many months, Angelina got pregnant. As everyone knows, a pregnancy can't be hidden for long, so they had to come clean.
The news spread like wildfire, and they were quickly on the front page of every magazine all over the world. Despite all the tabloids and rumors, the two were extremely happy.
The Dream Family
With Angelina's two adoptive kids and their new baby, Shiloh, Brad's dream was accomplished. They both finally got what they had always wanted: a big, happy family.
But three kids was not enough, and they wanted to make it even bigger. In 2008, Angelina got pregnant again, this time, with twins. The couple couldn't be happier and they showed up to many events together showing Angelina's big pregnant tummy.
Is It Perfect?
But, what happens after someone's dream comes true? Is happiness guaranteed, or do you need a new dream to drive your life?
It is very common for people to feel empty once they've reached their goals, because they find themselves not knowing what to do. Angelina was afraid that this is what she and Brad were feeling after their twins were born.
Trouble In Paradise
By 2014, the Brangelina family had eight members. They were a huge family that had everything in the world: fame, beauty, money, and most importantly, happiness... right?
Unfortunately at this point, they were starting to feel empty. For us mortals it seems ridiculous, but more often than not, celebrities can't find happiness in their millions of dollars and their fame, and they need something more.
Slowly Falling Apart
They couldn't have more kids at this point because six was more than enough. So what else could Brad and Angelina do? They needed to find a new goal in life to fill that void they were both feeling.
It was Angelina's idea to work on a project together doing what they loved the most: acting. After all, they had met on the set of a movie, so maybe this would rekindle their fading spark.
By The Sea
The couple then put all their energy into their new By the Sea. They worked on the script together and decided to play the main characters as well.
Sometimes, our hearts speak and we don't listen to them, which is what Brangelina did when it came to this movie. They didn't realize that the characters they were developing were very similar to themselves.
A Reflection
in fact, the characters mirrored Brad and Angelina's relationship. The movie was about a couple struggling to keep their marriage together and failing to do so.
Angelina confessed that, at the time, she had no idea, but years later, it all made sense. Their marriage was falling apart before their eyes, and they just couldn't see it.
Pushing It Down
Many people are aware of their issues on some level, but their brains use different coping mechanisms to help them pull through, and sometimes this involves pushing their feelings down and pretending they don't exist.
This is what was going on between Brad and Angelina, although she was more aware of their problems than he was.
The Drinking
While Angelina slowly realized that their marriage was going down the wrong path, Brad pretended everything was fine. On some level, he knew what was going on, but how did he cope with it?
Pitt numbed his feelings with alcohol and this led their marriage to deteriorate even more. But Angelina was not going to let it go so easily.
Bigger Issues
Just as all of this was happening, Angelina lost her mother to breast cancer. Doctors advised her to get tested as well, and she was informed that there was an 87% chance that she would develop it sooner or later.
Therefore, she had to make a huge decision and underwent a double mastectomy, a procedure in which the breast tissue is removed.
No More Children
Angelina also underwent an ovarian cancer prevention surgery that prevented her from being able to have any more children. Their family was big enough already, but the news were still painful.
After all, it had been their desire to have children what brought her and Brad together, and now they could not try it again. Sadly, more bad news were to come.
Bad Reviews
After Angelina's health issues were under control, By the Sea was released. The movie got very poor reviews and did not make much money at the box office.
But for Brangelina, it was a failure for another reason: it did not revitalize their relationship. At this point, they realized that they would have to do much more to save their marriage.
Acceptance
Between Angelina's health problems, Brad's drinking, and the fact that neither of them knew where they wanted their lives to go, their marriage was in shambles.
Angelina sought the help of a marriage counselor who helped her with her own issues first, such as her estrangement with her father, Jon Voight.
Silver Linings
While couple's counseling did not help their crumbling marriage, the therapy did help Angelina patch things up with her father and rediscover herself.
In the end, it was clear that the two had to go their separate ways and figure out how they wanted the rest of their lives to be. After 11 years together, Angelina filed for divorce.
The End
Their divorce took three years to finalize because they couldn't agree on what to do at first. But eventually, they both realized that they didn't need to fight each other and that they should be friends for the sake of their children.
They had shared a large part of their lives together, and they were thankful for it. Now, both of them are single, and who knows what they will do next...