Angelina Jolie on Brad Pitt split: 'It was a very difficult time'

Feb. 20 (UPI) -- Angelina Jolie says her split from husband Brad Pitt was "very difficult."

The 41-year-old actress opened up in an interview with the BBC about the 53-year-old actor for the first time since filing for divorce from Pitt in the fall.

"It was a very difficult time," Jolie confessed. "We are a family, and we will always be a family. We will get through this time and hopefully be a stronger family for it."

"Many, many people find themselves in this situation. My family -- we've all been through a difficult time. My focus is my children -- our children," she said. "My focus is finding [a] way through."

"We are and forever will be a family, so that is how I'm coping. I'm coping with finding a way through to make sure that this somehow makes us stronger and closer," the star added.

Jolie filed for divorce from Pitt in September after two years of marriage and a decade together. The pair announced in January that they've agreed to seal all court documents pertaining to their divorce to protect their six children.

"The parties and their counsel have signed agreements to preserve the privacy rights of their children and family by keeping all court documents confidential," they said in a joint statement.

"The parents are committed to act as a united front to effectuate recovery and reunification," the statement concluded.

Jolie spoke to the BBC prior to the premiere of her movie First They Killed My Father in Siem Reap, Cambodia. The actress attended the event with her six children, Maddox, Pax, Zahara, Shiloh, Knox and Vivienne.