It was tough: Angelina Jolie on playing 'Maleficent'

Actor Angelina Jolie made a shocking revelation that she had to work to find the strength to play Maleficent again in the upcoming sequel.

The 44-year-old actor put the horns back last summer to shoot 'Maleficent: Mistress of Evil' which comes out this Friday, marking her first acting role in four years.

"It was a tough time," Jolie told People.

"I'd been coming off a few years of difficulty, and I was not feeling very strong. In fact, I was feeling pretty broken. It took me a moment to feel the strength of [Maleficent] again."

Jolie shares six children with her 55-year-old ex-husband Brad Pitt: daughters Zahara, 14, Shiloh, 13, and Vivienne, 11, and sons Maddox, 18, Pax, 15, and Knox, 11.

But while her six kids hung around in London with their mother during most of the shoot, Jolie couldn't get them to appear on screen this time. Even her 11-year-old daughter Vivienne, who appeared as a young Aurora in 2014 original, will not be seen in this flick.

"I tried," Jolie says. "Viv still can't believe I made her a princess. None of my kids want to be actors. [They're into] business, humanitarian affairs, things like that.