Angelina Jolie lets Taylor Sheridan drag her through hell

Angelina Jolie says she's not quite retiring from movies, but that she expects her international work to be her focus going forward

NEW YORK -- Taylor Sheridan, initially brought on to rewrite the mountain thriller “Those Who Wish Me Dead,” gradually got more invested in the movie. When another filmmaker dropped out, he called the studio with an offer. “I said if I can get Angie to do this with me, I’ll direct it for you,” Sheridan says. “They said, ‘Great. You’ll never get Angie.’” The skepticism on the part of Warner Bros. executives was warranted. Angelina Jolie, whose priorities have centered on filmmaking, international work and family, hasn’t starred in a live-action film in six years. Over the last decade, her only leading performances have been two “Maleficent” movies and “By the Sea,” which she directed and starred in alongside then-husband Brad Pitt. But Sheridan’s timing was right. Jolie, going through a painful and protracted divorce, was more interested in a quicker, simpler role on set. And the part of a Montanan smoke jumper haunted by trauma and guilt, was potentially cathartic.