By Veronica Mixon
July 13, 2003
Lovely Angelina Jolie quietly enters
the room with a small smile on her full
lips and her long dark ponytail swaying
below her shoulders. The 27-year-old
actress, who won an Oscar for her dramatic
role in the 1999 film, Girl Interrupted,
has returned to her beloved eccentric
lady adventurer in an eagerly awaited
action sequel, Lara Croft
Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life.
The daughter of veteran Hollywood actor,
Jon Voight and Marcheline Bertrand,
young Angie grew up in Los Angeles and
was destine to work in movies despite
her difficult relationship with her
father. She first made her splash with
audiences in the explicit fashion drug
tale of a supermodel who died of AIDS,
Gia. Despite a variety of roles
before her Oscar winning performance,
most people only remember the nerdy
teen movie, Hackers and the
weird comedy Pushing Tin because
Jolie married her co-stars, Jonny Lee
Miller and Billy Bob Thornton. Her match
with Thornton was covered extensively
in the press with stories about tattoos,
vials of blood and wild stories of their
bedroom antics. Then, suddenly they
divorced and Jolie adopted a Cambodian
orphan.
Today, Angelina Jolie swears she is
happy and content with her life on and
off screen. Her candid answers to our
questions definitely proved that she
has changed quite a lot in recent years.
THE INTERVIEW
Was there any hesitation about
this movie because critics damned first
movie?
Well, critics always love summer movies,
anyway! I wasn't completely satisfied
with the first [film] one and I wanted
to do much different on the second one.
I'm always critical of things I've done
but I feel that this is a really good
solid film and I'm very proud of it.
Would you have not done it
if you didn't have some input?
Yeah, I wouldn't have done it if it
were going to be just like the first
one. There wouldn't have been a reason
to do it.
Are you as fearless as your
character? I would have had a heart
attack on the drop?
No, way! I'm a bit fearless to the point
of stupidity!
Gerard [Butler] said he was
peeing in his pants during the upside
down scene.
I like heights.
You did a lot of your own stunts?
Yes, I do! I'm adrenalin junky.
So it's kind of thrilling for
you?
It's not a bad job and that's what you're
getting paid to do in a day. It's pretty
exciting and interesting and I never
forget that. I appreciate that all the
time. I do this film. I train with the
best people in the world. I learn all
these new skills. I get sent to the
most beautiful countries in the world
and meet different cultures and get
time to spend with them. [For example]
Like being on the top of a volcano so
I just appreciate it all and love it.
So, is there anything that
scares you? Do you have any phobias?
I don't have a phobia. The only thing
that ever worries me is something happening
to someone I love.
Does that impact what you're
doing to do in future films?
Well, I'm already going to do Tomb Raider
3. If something is going to kill me,
I'll double-check my harness. [Laughs]
You're not suicidal?
No, I'm very responsible these days
to not be self destructive because of
my son. So, I'm never like that. But,
at the same time, I know that Maddox
will see a stunt when he gets older
and now I have all the more reason to
do as many cool things as possible because
I want to try to make my son proud.
Could you talk about the first
time you meet him? What was the situation?
[Laughs] You don't know.
That must have been a hard
decision to make because there are so
many kids.
There are so many kids but I think the
decision you make is to do something
before you go into an orphanage is to
do something for the entire orphanage
so you'll be helping all of the kids.
I'd been back to Cambodia a few times
after the first Tomb Raider with the
UN {United Nations} and fell for the
country. I was told that if you were
going to have an orphan child, you should
love the country because that's the
history you were going to teach them.
I decided I would go to one orphanage.
I decided that I wasn't going to go
too many; I was going to go to one.
I'd bring a child home so that I'd do
my paper work. And, Maddox was asleep
and they put him in this bucket outside
and poured water over him. They put
him in my arms and he smiled.
Did you feel that maternal
instinct when they put him in your arms?
I'd never been around children my whole
life. So, I - when he smiled, it wasn't
so much that he liked me but that he
was OK with me. Just that a child would
be comfortable in my arms meant a lot
to me. He seemed very comfortable.
So you felt comfortable?
Yeah, especially when he first came
home. We were in the Namibia shooting
and the first night, I was in this house
in the middle of Africa with this little
seven-month-old baby. Somehow, he taught
me how to be his parents. He told me
when he was hungry. We just figured
it out. It was weird, funny and the
amount of times he peed on my costumes.
I was rocking in the middle of scenes
and the doctor would have to tell me
that I was rocking.
What's the hardest thing about
being a single mom in show business?
I feel like I am so fortunate. Most
single mothers cannot insist on bringing
their child to work with them. So, I
am really, really lucky. My heart aches
for the women who aren't able to do
that because I can see him at lunch
and every time I get a break. He's around
all the time. The hard thing is being
tired some time but it's worth it.
You seem to be mellowed?
It's not just Maddox. I've been traveling
around the world for the last two years.
I get nervous - I had to speak for a
bill before Congress. I was nervous.
I don't get nervous in these interviews
anymore. Because I feel like it's for
a movie and it's great and the movie
is going to come but I've tried to dedicated
myself to my son and working for the
UN. So I'm much more calm when it comes
to other things.
Have you been looking for that
calm all your life?
I think everybody likes that sense of
purpose and a sense of being useful
to others. And, I didn't have that before.
I felt kind of useful as an actor but
that was not enough for me.
It's not enough to be a great
actress?
[Blushes] Thank you. No, it was never
fulfilling for me. To entertain people
and tell stories, it can be a wonderful
thing and try to influence with some
of your films saying something that
you really believe in is important and
was important to me but -
It's been a turbulent time
for you, at the same time. You lost
a husband and you didn't talk to your
father. Did the two things balance each
other out?
My first divorce was a very difficult
thing.
With Jonny [Lee Miller]?
Yes, we're very close friends but it
was a very difficult time. This time
in my life things just became very clear
and some people don't know - they've
grown in a different direction - when
its time to separate. We knew. We did.
We moved on and life became better for
both of us. Things are as they should
be. And, it's all wonderful.
Do you think you still believe
in love?
I'm beginning to think marriage isn't
my cup of tea. I just I didn't take
it so - I think I thought it was this
great bond with another person and you
connect your love in this way. But,
now having a child if I was to marry
now, it would be choosing a family.
And, I believe that should be permanent
and I don't have a lot of faith in marriage
lasting. So, I
What about love lasting?
Well, certainly love from a child. But
love from a man... I'm not looking for
it. I think it's wonderful if people
find love in their life from a man or
a woman but I feel like I want to learn
about this world, I want to learn about
myself, I want to become a better woman,
I want to become a better mother, I
want to have more children, I want to
do good things in my life. Whether I
have a lover or friend with me, it's
not important to me.
Are you a bit of a loner? Are
you happy being on your own?
I am actually.
Do you spend a lot of time
on your own?
I'm very happy.
Where did this nickname for
him come from?
Madness? If you met him for about five
minutes, you'd know.
Doesn't he have a birthday
coming up?
August 5th.
Are you planning a party or
little treat?
He's very into elephants so I'm gonna-
You're going to buy him an
elephant?
No. We actually have an animal sanctuary
and he has elephants there. In a Cambodia,
we're protecting an area of the forest
that has tigers and elephants. But for
his birthday, I want to get the big
stuffed elephants from FAO Schwartz
sent home to his room.
Where is home for you now?
I live outside of London. I live in
England.
Do you feel like an ex-patriot?
I also have a home in Cambodia. I travel
a lot now to Africa and Asia and other
parts of Europe and I feel to far away
when I'm in the States and disconnected.
I'm closer to the different places.
Who takes care of your home
in Cambodia?
There's a local aid group called CVD
and the different environmentalists
and a lot of the local people. It's
not really a home. It's three little
wooden huts on stilts and hammocks and
a hole in the ground for a toilet. We're
in the jungle. You have to helicopter
in or drive.
Are you afraid of Cambodia?
That's not in Cambodia. How many civil
wars are going on? That's a fact of
life. That could happen in the park!
I trust and love these people so much.
I feel so happy for him Maddox can run
around with these people. But, I think
everywhere you have to be somewhat smart
What's a day like there? It
sounds peaceful.
It's a bit peaceful. We haven't been
able to live there because Mad's a toddler.
One - we haven't been able to completely
move in because we just finished de-mining.
We found 48 unexploded mines in a Khmer
Rouge bunker from 25 different countries
including this one.
You don't actually go out and
do this?
I have to. I've blown them up with TNT.
Yeah, it's a bit daunting when they
say before you go to your place - can
we get your blood type?
You've always marched to a
beat with your own drum. Do people say
you should focus more on your career?
I mean you don't even have a publicist.
No, I've never had a publicist. Certainly
over the years, people have told me
to rein it in and be a little more normal
and try to come up with some sense to
present myself in a way that would be
comfortable for everybody. But, now,
all these years into my career, I think
everyone's given up. But, also I think
they've realized and I've made it clear
to everybody that the more complete
I am as a human being, the better my
work will be - when I do work.
So you're still searching for
your true self?
I think I've found myself. I'm very
much on track finally, these last few
years with what I should be doing with
my life. I'm starting to really find
it now and I'm just beginning.
Your last two films were not
big box office hits so is there a lot
riding on this film?
I like my last two films and I'm proud
of them. ["Original Sin" with
Anthony Banderas] It's interesting because
you go to other countries [and] "Original
Sin" is very popular especially
in Asia where I spend a lot of time.
My perception of how people like something
in the states and how people like something
in world is very different. So, if it
all goes wrong with my career, I have
a life that I love.
Can you talk about working
with the UN?
I don't want to say something in two
seconds! I believe in equal rights for
all peoples and I believe that we all
should be doing what we can to put balance
in the world because the racism in the
world is disgustingly out of balance.
We have a lot in this country. I think
we should all do what we can to be more
aware of what is happening in the world.
Do you want to continue doing
these films?
I don't know. I want to see how it does.
But who knows, chances are Maddox will
be five and I'll have another kid and
he'll make me do it.
Another child? Are you adopting?
A girl or a boy?
I don't know. I'll figure it out when
I get there!
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