Angelina Jolie says 'I don't recognise my country' amid fears of Trump's free speech crackdown: 'These are heavy times'

Angelina Jolie spoke about limiting ‘personal freedom and expressions’ in the United States under Trump's presidency.

Updated on: Sep 22, 2025, 09:43:26 IST

By Abhimanyu Mathur

Prefer HTon Google

Share via

Copy link

Hollywood star Angelina Jolie has delivered a stunning indictment of her home country, the United States of America, voicing concern over threats to free expression while presenting her latest film at Spain's San Sebastián film festival.

Angelina Jolie addressed the growing concerns about free speech and freedom of expression in Donald Trump's America. (Photo by ANDER GILLENEA / AFP) (AFP)

The actor's comments come in a climate of growing concerns about President Donald Trump's crackdown on critical media, particularly after the recent suspension of late-night host Jimmy Kimmel's show over comments on the killing of conservative influencer Charlie Kirk.

‘I don't recognise my country’

At the festival, after she was asked if she feared for freedom of speech in the United States, Angelina said, “I love my country, but I don't at this time recognise my country.”

The actor added, “Anything, anywhere, that divides or, of course, limits personal expressions and freedoms, and from anyone, I think, is very dangerous. These are very, very heavy times we're all living in together.”

On Couture

The 50-year-old was in San Sebastian to promote her film Couture. Directed by French filmmaker Alice Winocour, Couture is competing for the festival's top prize, the Golden Shell.

In the film, Angelina plays Maxine Walker, an American film director facing divorce and a serious illness while navigating Paris Fashion Week and embarking on a romance with a colleague, played by French actor Louis Garrel.

The Oscar-winning actor said she related personally to the struggles of her latest character. Angelina underwent a double mastectomy in 2013 and later had her ovaries and fallopian tubes removed to reduce her high genetic risk of cancer, which claimed the lives of her mother and grandmother.

“I wish she was able to speak more as openly as I have been, and have people respond as graciously as you have, and not feel as alone,” she said, looking visibly moved. “There's something very particular to women's cancers, because obviously it affects us, you know, how we feel as women,” she added.

(With AFP inputs)

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Abhimanyu Mathur
Abhimanyu Mathur is Deputy Editor, Entertainment at Hindustan Times. With almost 15 years of experience in writing about everything from films and TV shows to cricket matches and elections, he inhales and exhales pop culture and news. Currently, he watches movies and TV shows and talks to celebrities for a living, while occasionally writing about them as well. A journalism graduate of Delhi College of Arts and Commerce, Delhi University, Abhimanyu began his career with Hindustan Times at the age of 20, swapping classrooms for newsrooms at an early age. He began his journey in the early days of digital journalism, later switching to the madness of print journalism. Work has led him to far off places like Japan and Jordan, as well as to the interiors of Haryana and the Indo-Pak border. He dabbled in city reporting in places like Meerut, Gurgaon, and Delhi, covered the Olympics and Cricket World Cups, before finding his calling in entertainment and lifestyle during the pandemic. A Rotten Tomatoes Certified Film Critic, he is equally at home covering stories on ground as he is interviewing celebrities and studios, and sometimes prefers to shepherd teams in delivering traffic through the day. Even as his role has evolved from reporter to supervisor over the years, his first love remains writing (and of late, talking on camera). With a good understanding of cinema and its trends, and a keen eye for detail, he continues to spark conversations around showbiz for readers around the world.Read More

Stay connected with all the glitz and glam from the world of entertainment, right from Hollywood gossip to Bollywood chit chat. Also don't miss out on music buzz, anime scoops and OTT action.