Angelina Jolie Says Her 'Fighting Spirit' is Back After Brad Pitt Divorce

Angelina Jolie's feeling more like her old self these days ... and she pretty much says it's because she divorced Brad Pitt.

In an interview with Variety ... the star said her "fighting spirit" is back ... something that had been "lost for a bit" ... adding, "I kind of got taken down a little."

Angelina doesn't mention Brad or their marriage directly ... but it's not hard to read between the lines after their rocky marriage and super messy split.

Giving a lot of credit to her children, Angelina says they've helped her become her old self ... and are "encouraging" her to get her groove back.

Angelina also appeared to use her children to twist the knife in Brad, saying their kids "know me more than anybody, and they still like me, which says a lot." Ouch.

A large part of the messy split has been the kids becoming estranged from Brad ... with some even dropping his last name. TMZ recently obtained a petition their daughter Zahara filed earlier this month, asking for her new legal name to be "Zahara Marley Jolie."

Angelina says she got back into acting after her split with Brad because her humanitarian work while married kept her away from the kids for too long and acting gigs allowed her to see them more ... plus, she missed the big paydays!