Angelina Jolie prefers directing to acting: 'There is huge freedom behind the camera'

After moving into other areas of film making, it looks like Angelina Jolie's acting days could soon be behind her. The Maleficent star has revealed that she prefers directing to acting.

Speaking to Elle magazine, the Hollywood actress said that she felt a sense of "freedom" being behind the camera and in the director's chair.

"I prefer directing to acting," she told the publication. "There is huge freedom that comes from being behind the camera. It brings a lot of responsibilities as well, but is intensely rewarding. Particularly the chance to help draw out the best in young actors, like Jack O'Connell in Unbroken, who is a remarkable talent."

Brad Pitt's wife, who had also directed In the Land of Blood and Honey, took the helm of cinematic drama Unbroken, released in 2014. The Oscar-nominated film is about Olympic track star-turned-prisoner of war Louis Zamperini.

Although Zamperini passed away before the film was released, Jolie believes his legacy will live on for centuries to come.

"Like many of the greatest human stories, it is about the capacity of regular men and women to rise above adversity," she said. "It reminds us never to give up, and that having the spirit to fight is what really matters. It is powerful because it speaks to the potential inside all of us."

In March 2015, Jolie made headlines after announcing that she had had her ovaries and fallopian tube removed to prevent the onset of ovarian cancer. As a result of the procedure known as a laparoscopic bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy the mother-of-seven's child-bearing years are now behind her.

The mother-of-seven, who had a double mastectomy in May 2013, explained her brave decision in an opinion piece, titled Angelina Jolie Pitt: Diary Of A Surgery, published in the New York Times.

"I went through what I imagine thousands of other women have felt," the UN ambassador said. "I told myself to stay calm, to be strong, and that I had no reason to think I wouldn't live to see my children grow up and to meet my grandchildren."