Angelina Jolie is ready to return to work after supporting her children through their difficult “family situation”.

The 42-year-old actress-and-director split from husband Brad Pitt – the father of her kids Maddox, 16, Pax, 13, Zahara, 12, Shiloh, 11, and nine-year-old twins Knox and Vivienne – in September 2016 and took a break from her career because she was “needed” at home, but is now looking for opportunities to get back in front of the camera.

Speaking to the Hollywood Reporter at the Telluride Film Festival – where her latest directorial offering, ‘First They Killed My Father’ was screened – she said: “Right now I don’t have anything to direct that I feel passionate about like this, so I’ll do some acting. I’ve taken over a year off now, because of my family situation, to take care of my kids.

“When they can have – when I feel it’s time for me to go back to work, I’ll be able to go back to work. I’ve been needed at home. I hope [to work again] in the months to come.”

Asked what she’ll be working on, she added: “‘Maleficent’ [sequel], we’re working on, most likely. And I look forward to having some fun with that. ‘Cleopatra’, there is a script. There’s a lot of different things floating around. But I haven’t committed.”

And the ‘By the Sea’ star admitted she would “love to” eventually move into just directing, but doesn’t know how successful that would be as a full-time venture.

She said: “I would love to [move into directing] at some point. At some point, I’ll probably just direct. If I’m allowed to. But you just don’t know if you can have a career as a director. You don’t know how things are going to be received.”