Angelina Jolie Reveals She Had Bell's Palsy

It was announced today that Angelina Jolie would be featured on Vanity Fair's September cover this year. The interview featured in the issue — now available online — is incredibly wide-ranging, but one of the most interesting revelations is Jolie's account of her struggle with Bell's palsy.

Jolie told Vanity Fair that she developed the condition last year. Bell's palsy causes drooping on one side of a person's face, Vanity Fair explains, due to nerve damage. Luckily, the actress was able to make a full recovery from the condition, and she says that's all thanks to acupuncture.

"Sometimes women in families put themselves last... until it manifests itself in their own health," Jolie told Vanity Fair contributing editor Evgenia Peretz. The star apparently developed hypertension last year, too, in addition to suffering from palsy.

Jolie added that she's "being smart" about her life decisions and her health.

"I actually feel more of a woman because I feel like I'm being smart about my choices, and I'm putting my family first, and I'm in charge of my life and my health," she told Vanity Fair. "I think that's what makes a woman complete."

During the interview, Jolie also discussed her directorial work on the upcoming Netflix movie First They Killed My Father, which is based on Loung Ung's memoir about the Khmer Rouge genocide.

"There wasn't a person who was working on the movie who didn't have a personal connection," Jolie told Vanity Fair about making the film in Cambodia. "They weren't coming to do a job. They were walking in the exodus for the people whom they had lost in their family, and it was out of respect for them that they were going to re-create it... It completed something for them."

For some crew members, there were even flashbacks as they worked on the project, Vanity Fair explains, and a therapist was available on set. The movie has a personal connection for Jolie, too — her son Maddox, familiar with Loung's story, encouraged Jolie to take on the project. (Maddox is listed as an executive producer on the movie, too.)

Vanity Fair's September issue hits newsstands in New York and Los Angeles on August 3, and it will be available digitally through iTunes and Kindle on that date as well. It hits national newsstands on August 8. You can read the full profile over at Vanity Fair.

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