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The Mail Online (in the UK) has a great article up about Angelina Jolie up, which I think is a must-read for any fan after last week’s snarky New York Times article.
I do have one minor issue with the article – I have a pet peeve when anyone refers to a father as “baby-sitting” his children, but aside from that minor annoyance in the first paragraph, it’s great and gives us a nice insight into Angelina Jolie without getting sarcastic.
Another one of the interviews she gave during her press run for Changeling in New York, they mention that Angelina looks completely pulled together despite her self-mockery over her attempt to get breakfast underway just hours before the interview began.
Considering the times I’ve heard negative comments about how much money was spent for People to get the rights to the first twins’ photos, I was glad to read that Angelina acknowledged it, that it doesn’t seem as though it was a small sum to her:
‘It was a crazy amount of money,’ she agrees, referring to the baby pictures deal. ‘But look, we’re using the money for our charitable foundation and in that way it does some good.’
Immediately after that, the article talks about just a small amount of the goodwill work Angie does for refugee children around the world, and it manages to do so without getting snotty, which would have helped the NYT article a great deal.
More below the cut!
She talks about her new perception of beauty too:
‘You know what is beautiful? My mom. [Her mother was the French actress Marcheline Bertrand, who died aged 56 last January from ovarian cancer.] She was beautiful to me, and I look more like my mom as I get older. Something else comes out of you when you become a parent and, as you get older, you start to see more character in your face.
‘Now, when I look at myself, I just see somebody at peace, and I see a mom, and I see my own relatives in my face – and that’s a kind of beauty that exists for everybody and doesn’t disappear.’
Considering the striking resemblance between Angelina and Marcheline, I can’t disagree with that!
She expanded on what it was like to shoot a movie with a disturbing topic like Changeling. Angelina has often mentioned how difficult it is, as a mother, to go into that dark place of having a missing child, but in this interview she also added that she was constantly paranoid about her own children, about where they were and what they were doing at all times. I can’t blame her, because when you have to be in that frame of mind all day on set, how could you not let it leak into your real life?
‘I remember one weekend I’d taken a nap and Shiloh was asleep in her cradle, and when I woke up she was gone. I was freaking out. And nothing had happened – Brad had taken her and the rest of the kids to the park.
‘But Walter’s story haunted me. Throughout filming I was hugging the kids and keeping them close to me.’
I think one of my favorite parts of the article is when the author says that although the tabloids run rampant about Angelina’s so-called post-partum depression and tell tales of alleged trouble in the Angelina and Brad relationship, she certainly seems to be a woman who is very happy with everything in her life right now. They also re-iterate the fact that Angelina doesn’t read the tabloids, that they’re silly.
Angelina admits she isn’t perfect, something people should be aware of, says she’s made mistakes and learned from them, and says, ‘I’d love to talk to other mothers about things I don’t know how to do.’ One of her less-than-perfect sides is that she isn’t as green as she’d like to be, but that Brad has taught her a lot about how to be better.
I was especially happy to hear her address the flights, since many people like to snark on the fact that they’re supposed to be an environmentally aware family and yet the Jolie-Pitt family flies privately so frequently (as though they could all sit in coach, SURE). She said, ‘And if we fly private, we buy carbon credits wherever we go.’
It was just so refreshing to read this after the two-faced article of last week. Please check out the full interview over here.
Image used with permission: Newscom
This was a lovely interview. I agree that as she has matured, she has become more beautiful and maybe even “softer” as she said. In her youth, she tended to look a bit “severe”, but by choice as it was her edgier period. Although, she has maintained an “edge”. It takes more courage to travel to war torn areas than to harm yourself as she said she did in her youth. I find her edge now to have purpose, which is probably more fulfilling for her as well. She also says that she is now happier, so, whatever it is that she is doing, along with Mr. Pitt and their family must be working.
As an FYI, there are probably no photos of the park outing referred to because they live in a gated community in Los Angeles, so there would not be any paparrazi around to photograph them in what is a private park. Most likely the reason there are so few photos of the family in Los Angeles. Thanks for the more positive news.
Sherri,
Don’t you think its funny that articles always say Angelina’s mother was french? I have several articles where Angelina says that people always think that, but in fact she was an American.
Your blog is wonderful!!
Tina
She sure is the carbon copy of her late mother. I like the interview, she is honest & very articulate.
I hope to see her on the red carpet with Brad for CCBB on Dec. 8 in L.A.
Happy birthday to Pax on the 29th of this month, he will turn 5.
God bless the Jolie-Pitt’s.
this is fab Sherry; again you have saved-the-day. and I agree with you all – it’s always BEST to defer to Angie’s interviews (and not to articles that state: ” …someone close to the family said . .”
I never buy the print version of The Daily Mail as it’s usually very ‘right-wing’ and very biased, but women tend to like it as it always has lots of features women in general are more interested in. But here it seems to have excelled itself.
I love the bit where Angie says she’d like to chat to other mums . . . I so wish I could chat with her about raising children- I don’t know HOW I would have survived without that interchange. I recall one ‘mum’ saying to me: “I think we expect too much from them.” when I was innocently getting angry as my daughters weren’t stopping doing whatever it was they were doing, JUST BECAUSE I’D TOLD THEM NOT TO / EXPECTING THEM TO GET THE LOGIC AT 4 + 6YRS OF AGE !!! I LEARNT SO MUCH ABOUT HUMAN BEHAVIOUR WHEN RAISING CHILDREN – you can’t teach children just by ‘telling’ them.
Today, I still think that humans have THE longest “childhood” period, and parents mustn’t expect their ‘offspring’ to suddenly act ADULT as soon as they hit 18 (but then again, how many ‘adults’ act like we all think an adult SHOULD act !!!!???)
I’ll make sure I watch it :) thanks
^
thursday’s show will also be on BBC2 7-7:30 P.M. it will most likely be put on the BBC website after it air’s aswell.
for any U.K fans, angelina will be on the culture show tonight at 10pm on BBC2 and on thursday 27th november (2 days time) the culture show is doing an ‘angelina jolie special’ a whole half hour from 7p.m to 7:30pm, the culture show’ mark kermode will talk to angelina about all her films from when she first started out in 1993-94 till now.
I also think that Angie has become more and more beuatiful as she grows older. She looks a lot more like her late mum now than she looked ten years ago. When she was in her early twenties she liked to dress in leather and looked very provocative. But now she is much more of a lady whenever she attends a red carpet event. Brad sure is very proud of her. And he should be. They both share the same values and are trying to install those values into their children too. That´s why I respect them among many other things. God bless this beautiful family always!
Ligaya, can’t remember anymore which thread i posted Colin Powell’s quote. Anyway, here’s that said list:
–“She’s absolutely serious, absolutely informed..Her work with refugees is not something to decorate herself. She studies the issues…For her, it’s not about saving the world, it’s about saving kids….She doesn’t need this. This needed her.” (Former Sec. of State Colin Powell)
–“She is an unprecedented 21st-century entity, a tabloid star with international credibility, a “soft news” icon commanding respect in a hard-news world.” (Sean Smith of Newsweek)
–“And there are people in my own profession I admire, who have done things and made substantial change, like Bono and Angelina Jolie. They are models for how you can meaningfully devote your life to causes. It’s not just lending your face. It’s giving yourself. A lot of people lack meaning in their lives, and that’s why getting active in issues like microfinance gives you such a center to your life” (Natalie Portman)
–”Now, that’s a woman with experience. She’s no wuss….She’s someone walkin’ her walk and talkin’ her talk. You get there because you take a life of experience and apply it.” (Sharon Stone)
– ”Angelina Jolie is seemingly doing an incredible job at philanthropy. I think she’s found her niche, just like I feel I’ve found mine. She’s a great ambassador.” (Jon Bon Jovi)
–“I am also inspired by what Angelina Jolie is doing by traveling to places like Cambodia to help children by actually being there and being more involved.” (Liv Tyler, talking of her UNICEF inspiration)
–”Angelina has my huge respect and I actually called her and asked her (for advice) when I was going on this trip and she was very kind. I just think that the work that she does is absolutely inspiring.” (Drew Barrymore)
–”These people don’t need additional focus or respect. I’m not that cynical at all. Angelina has given not only her time, but her money to assist people who need it most…In the past, entertainers have usually led selfish and egotistical lives so I like it when I see people like Angelina trying so hard. I think she has raised some awareness and that she has an extremely good heart.” (Mia Farrow)
–”She’s a phenomenal example to young women because she’s a successful career woman, a humanitarian and a mother too…The concept of acting in movies, being an international delegate for the UN, adopting children and being a mother is so much responsibility. I have a lot of respect for her. (Evangeline Lilly)
–“It’s important to separate people from what they do as a person and as part of an institution. Take ANGELINA JOLIE for example, she’s a successful actress but when she’s doing charity work she does it within the framework of the United Nations, as a representative for them, not as a superstar. People should appreciate these efforts.” (Danny Glover)
–“What would she have to do to prove that she’s sincere?Should she give more money? More time? It’s a black-hole debate. When people judge anyone’s sincerity, I just think, ‘Oh, yeah? What are you doing?” (Producer Dede Gardner)
–“Angie roughs it. She lives with us in the forest and eats the crickets and the cockroaches the locals eat without thinking twice about it. Whenever I read in magazines about her ‘glorious house in Cambodia,’ I think, What? It’s a shack. I don’t think people believe she has the ability to abandon everything in the West and transpose herself to a situation with malaria and dengue fever and the most extreme poverty. I read about her ‘Hollywood life.’ Well, you can’t live a Hollywood life in this part of Cambodia.” (Stephen Bognar hired by Angelina to run a conservation project in Cambodia)
–“Good for Angelina Jolie. She obviously loves all the stuff she does. I couldn’t do such a lot of charity work. I look up to people like her. I applaud Angelina ! ” (Sharon Osbourne)
– I’m talking about traveling the world and seeing different things. Possibly doing what Angelina Jolie does — to go over there and bring food.” (Hayden Panettiere )
–“Angelina Jolie is a good example of someone who really puts her time into bettering the lives of so many children. What I don’t understand is the media’s criticism (of Jolie’s) involvement in humanitarian aide and why they question her motives and sincerity. It’s like, Who cares? She’s doing a good job and putting so much of her time and money in the causes.” (Tea Leoni)
–She could be doing anything with that money, a brilliant career and so much talent, and she chooses to, in her off time, fly to places where she knows her voice is needed. She balances being a mother, a career woman and a humanitarian at the same time. That is beautiful.” (Zoe Zaldana)
– “(ANGELINA) seems to be someone who spends a lot of time thinking about pretty substantial things. But there’s such a loss of critical thinking in this country. She’s giving an enormous amount of money – and yet there is still interest in the really superficial.” (Sarah Jessica Parker)
Enough Rope interview from yesterday, filmed last month:
http://www.abc.net.au/tv/enoughrope/
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=VnO-r_XVh6M
The full interview goes for an hour but I can’t find it online.
Angie definitely looks much better now than her earlier years. She is a Mom and she is more beautiful inside too.
I also think Angie looks more beautiful as she gets older. I saw her interviews and red carpet pictures when she was in her twenties and I think she looks much more beautiful now.
UNDER MOD: My one beef with this article, and wondering why there aren’t any pictures of the park outing Angie mentioned.
I like the article over all, but I have one beef with it (I mean, besides the “baby-sitter” thing): They referred to Angie’s mother as being a “French actress”. Marcheline was NOT French!!!! She was raised in Chicago (I’m not sure, but I think she was actually born in LA). and was of French-Candian and Native American descant.
Angie herself even once told an interviewer: “My mother was as far from French-Parisian as you can get. She grew up in a bowling alley in Chicago that my grandparents owned.” She has also said that even she has no idea where the rumors about Marcheline being French got started (some people have speculated that it’s because she spent her last days in France, but that’s wrong, too. Techincally, her last days were spent at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in LA, which is where she died.).
For awhile, I even hoped that Angie wouldn’t have the twins in France, as I knew that would be bound to perpuate the rumors about her mother being French (i.e., people would say she had the twins in France to pay homage to her mother).
Anyway, I wish the media, especially legimate media, would stop perpeting the FALSE rumor that Marcheline was French!
As for the rest of the interview…I wonder why we never saw any pictures of that park outing with all (at the time) four (or possibly three if Pax hadn’t been adopted yet) kids that Angie mentioned in this interview?
First, there was her statement about pregnancy and feeling like a real woman and being sexy … And now, this. Talk about inspiring words to mothers, single women and young girls.
Yep, the words are also a tribute to her mom.
Too bad the article is 99% accompanied (once again) by ill-informed, bitchy comments (100% female).
angie does look like her beautiful mother as she age. thanks for the article sherry. it’s a nice interview.
Thank you Sherry for this post and for the link to the article. I just love to read Angie’s interviews. She is articulate, intelligent, interesting and very down to earth.
I like to see/read Brad and Angelina’s interviews. I feel they reflect who they really are and not who the press wants us to believe they are–and it seems that they are interesting and wonderful people who believe in family first.