Angelina Jolie has hinted — once again — that a run for office isn’t completely out of the question.
The 43-year-old actress, director and special envoy for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees told People on Wednesday, “Never say never!” when asked about a possible run in the future.
“[But] right now I am looking to others for leadership,” she added.
This is not the first time she has publicly suggested that she’s toying with the idea of moving toward politics.
While serving as a guest editor of the BBC’s morning radio show “Today” in December, Jolie was asked again if she’d consider running for office.
“Honestly, if you asked me 20 years ago, I would’ve laughed,” she said. “I really don’t know. I always say I’ll go where I’m needed. I don’t know if I’m fit for politics. But then I’ve also joked that I don’t know if I have a skeleton left in my closet, so I’m pretty open and out there. I can take a lot on the chin, so that’s good.”
Jolie, however, also mentioned that her current role as a special envoy for the U.N. refugee agency allows her “to do a lot of work directly with the people in need.”
“I sit in a very interesting place of being able to get a lot done without a title and without it being about myself or my policies. So for now, I’ll stay quiet,” she said.
The “Maleficent” star hasn’t shied away from voicing her opinions on the current administration’s views of immigrants and refugees, however. During a speech in 2017 to honor Sergio Vieira de Mello, a Brazilian United Nations diplomat, and others who were killed during the 2003 bombing of the U.N. headquarters in Baghdad, she talked about resurgent nationalism.
“We see a rising tide of nationalism masquerading as patriotism and the reemergence of policies encouraging fear and hatred of others,” Jolie said. “We see some politicians elected partly on the basis of dismissing international institutions and agreements as if our countries haven’t benefited from cooperation but actually been harmed by it.”
“I am a proud American, and I am an internationalist. I believe anyone committed to human rights is. It means seeing the world with a sense of fairness and humility and recognizing our own humanity in the struggles of others. It stems from the love of one’s country, but not at the expense of others — from patriotism and not narrow nationalism,” she added. “The challenge is how to restore that sense of balance and hopefulness in our countries … because a world in which we turn our back on our global responsibilities will be a world that produces greater insecurity, violence and danger for us and our children.”