Angelina Jolie makes candid dating admission after split from Brad Pitt ten years ago

Angelina Jolie might have marked her comeback in the world of acting but the world of dating is continuing to elude her.

The 51-year-old endured a distressing period after announcing her divorce from Brad Pitt in 2016, with her acting credits perhaps few and far between in recent years.

The former couple's separation took a total of eight years to finalise due to various legal battles - including allegations of abuse against Pitt, which he denied - and the custody of their six children.

After starring in the recently released Couture, in which she plays a filmmaker who finds a partner in the midst of her breast cancer diagnosis, Jolie has reflected on her own romantic situation.

Speaking to Yahoo Entertainment, the Kung Fu Panda star said: “I haven't dated or been with anyone since I divorced a decade ago, right? So I kind of get in my head that that aspect of me is not centred in my life if I'm focusing on my children and my family.”

Jolie is starring in Couture which was released in cinemas last week (Dimitrios Kambouris/WireImage)

Considering Jolie also lost her own mother to breast cancer, and she carries a gene mutation which gives her a significantly higher chance of developing the disease, it seems as if the film and the character she is portraying has helped Jolie to re-assess her approach to life.

“So it took me a second to say, ‘Look, she can also love her daughter and be dedicated to her daughter and also need this as a woman and receive this as a woman.' And that in fact, it might be very healing for her,” Jolie added.

The Oscar winner admitted: “Life has broken me a little. I have to live again. Be free again.”

Her three daughters, Zahara, 21, Shiloh, 20, and Vivienne, 17, who she shares with her ex husband, have also been encouraging her to get out there and are bringing her back to her old self.

Jolie shares six children with ex husband Brad Pitt (Samir Hussein/WireImage)

She added: “They speak to me as young women, and I see what I want for them. I see what I don't want them to lose and what I want them to hold on to. And in a way, this is reminding me of what I might have lost myself.

“I think they kind of want me now to not just be ‘Mum,' ” she told the outlet. “There's a different room for me to be that woman again, that's not just a mum.”

Speaking about the future, Jolie said: “I'm thinking I have to live again. Be free again.”

Although her battle with Brad isn't completely over as they continue to fight over a French winery, it seems as if Jolie is ready to focus on herself again after dedicating much of the past decade to raising her children.