Jennifer Lopez, Angelina Jolie and More Give Advice to Younger Selves in ‘People’

Jennifer Lopez, Angelina Jolie, Jodie Foster and Julia Roberts have shared their best pieces of advice for their younger selves as part of People magazine’s 40th anniversary issue.

Editors asked a host of celebrities to revisit their pasts for the special October edition and reveal what they would have wanted to know in their youths.

The stars offered words of encouragement and love.

Jolie insists she wouldn’t “change anything”, but encourages her younger self to travel more, saying, “I would probably say enjoy the freedom as much as you possibly can before it goes away.

“Enjoy the walks in the park and the backpacking and traveling and living. Which I did, but I would have liked to have done more before it became a little less easy to do so.”

The newlywed mom of six adds, “You can never prepare for the future, because it’s all those things that build up to who you are. You have to let your younger self be scared of things and attack things head on. Make bold choices and make mistakes, and it’s all those things that add up to the person you later become.”

Meanwhile, Roberts encourages her younger self to “be happy with your natural curls” and “relish every moment with Dad”, and Lopez writes, “Keep your feet on the ground, don’t forget who you are, and love yourself – appreciate yourself.”

Former beauty queen Halle Berry wishes she had been more relaxed during her youth, saying, “Everything happens for a reason. The highs. The lows. It’s all for a higher development. And I would not stress about the down times. That’s part of one’s evolution”, while Foster regrets not stepping behind the camera earlier in her career, stating, “I wish I could have directed more in my 30s.”

Transgender Orange is the New Black star Laverne Cox has also opened up to her teenage self, urging her to “know you are beautiful” and adding, “You are not crazy for knowing you are a girl. This knowledge about who you are is not a disappointment to anyone, but an acknowledgement of God’s plan for you.”

Jennifer Aniston, Cate Blanchett, Sharon Stone, Matthew McConaughey, rocker Adam Levine and singer Kelly Clarkson also shared their words of wisdom for the article.

Meanwhile, Taylor Swift admits she wishes she’d have laughed more as a teenager, adding, “You have to laugh when you’re humiliated, when you’re rejected… At a certain point you have to be able to turn whatever bad experience you have into a funny dinner party joke.”

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