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Recently Angelina Jolie did an intimate interview with Entertainment Weekly. Aside from the fact that she was lamenting how hard it is to shop for Brad Pitt, what with Father’s Day around the corner (she says he has impeccable design tastes and often buys the things he likes for himself before anyone else can get it for him), she chatted about her family life and movies.
Some great highlights?
On what her movie Wanted is, as compared to Mr. and Mrs. Smith:
EW: I was describing the plot of Wanted to a friend and she said, ”So instead of Mr. & Mrs. Smith, this is just Mrs. Smith.”
Angelina: Maybe this is Mrs. Smith after she killed Mr. Smith, went into depression, and got very, very, very moody. Fox is not happy, and she’s not easy to be around. She was interesting to me because she isn’t the love interest and she isn’t having fun with it like the Tomb Raider. She’s darker.
What with all the people who constantly complain that it’s hypocritical to play in movies with death and destruction when you’re promoting goodwill with the UNHCR, I loved this quote:
EW: Do you worry that people will have a hard time squaring this gun-toting character with your role as a U.N. Goodwill Ambassador? They do seem quite incongruous.
Angelina: I am a strong believer that without justice there is no peace. No lasting peace, anyway. I’m somebody who’s very curious about the International Criminal Court and supportive of following through on the arrest warrants in Darfur. I’m not somebody that just wants to hold up a white flag and say, ”Let’s all just get along.” I think people that do horrible things should be held accountable. I don’t think like in Wanted — which is an action movie — people should [just] be killed. I think there should be trials and justice. But the idea behind Wanted is not that she’s a badass assassin that just likes to kill people. It’s that, if you ran into Hitler before he did everything, and you knew, should you shoot him? And I would. These assassins are getting lists: They find out who is going to slaughter other people ahead of time and they remove them. So that was the side of me that identified with her. But it is a confusing thing, certainly for rights activists. Don’t read too much into it. I am holding a gun, but there are so many people that have done so many horrible things… Pol Pot died a grandfather in the jungle, most likely of old age. Never was punished for what he did.
An interesting glimpse at how she finds her roles:
EW: Who helps you read scripts and make decisions? Brad? Your longtime manager, Geyer Kosinski?
Angelina: I’m terrible at reading scripts. I love to read and I hate reading scripts. Brad reads a lot because he’s also producing. We’re always joking about the fact that I just hate it. I have no patience. I can’t watch movies either. What usually will happen is I’ll talk to Geyer about what stage I’m at in my life and what type of a woman or story I’m looking to tell. Like with Wanted, I call and say, ”I really feel like I have to do something that’s physical right now.” Right now I don’t want to work at all. I want to stay home, so the few things we’ve talked about are the amazing, once-in-your-lifetime things, like Atlas Shrugged. But other than that, I’m not looking.
(She also talks about the possibility of doing Atlas Shrugged some day.)
Possibly one of my favorite parts of the interview:
EW: In many ways you’re a very polarizing figure. People either worship you or they can’t stand you. Have you thought about why that is?
Angelina: I’d like to think it’s because I’m not neither here nor there in my life. I think anybody that makes a decision about where they stand is going to cause strong opinions about them. But I think that’s what you should be hoping for in life, so I take that as a very good sign. That some people support me and some people really don’t like me tells me that I’m making decisions and I’m standing strong for something I believe in. I’m making choices in life. And that’s the right thing to do.
Now hurry on over and read the full Angelina Jolie/Entertainment Weekly interview!
Then come on back and let’s discuss the finer points!
Wanted Image used with permission: Splash News Online
Technorati Tags: angelina jolie, angelina jolie wanted, entertainment weekly, angelina jolie interview
Love this interview, I can relate to her so much our lives have followed similar paths. I also never regret any thing, life is to short for regrets. As for Mad’s interest in War and all things War, I believe all little boy’s and some girl’s go through this, I know mine did but it only lasted 6 months. With all the places Mad has been, things he has seen and the political discussions that I am assuming go on in the house, I can see why he would be curious. Better to give a child a straight up answer about guns, war and what goes on in the world, then hide them under a protective blanket. It gives you and the child an appreciation of what you have and how you can help others.
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You know Mrs. Jolie just continues to amaze me. I’ve always been a fan of hers not only because she is so talent but because of her persona. I don’t know her, but through these interviews I feel like somehow I do. At times I think I may even envy her because of the way that she is able to express herself. And I know that has a lot to do with her mom helping and teaching her to do so as child. The entire interview was very lovely but she said something that just really stood out to me: “I don’t believe in regrets. It’s a dangerous habit to get into — it makes you pause in your life if you start thinking back and questioning yourself.”
Thank you pittwatch for this, I’m lucky to have found this site. Me being 19 years old and reading things about Mrs. Jolie inspires me. Because there are some things that she’s has gone through in her life that im going through in mines today. She really helps me a lot.
Thanks sherry, I think you do a good job.
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great interview. i’m in LOVE with this woman.
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Carmen, that quote stood out for me too as something to aspire to.
This is the best interview of Angelina I’ve ever read (Vanity Fair was still tabloidish). EW is really good at staying professional – it’s not as detailed as Variety & Hollywood Reporter, and it’s not as stuffy either. They did an excellent job of choosing their Q, including hard ones – wide-ranging from Angelina as an actress & her movies to her family life, her past & present, incongruities & contradictions.
It’s so cute that Maddox is watching out for his mommy by asking if he’s too heavy for her. And it’s so wonderful of Angelina & Brad to be aware of keeping their family a close unit by making each new family member’s entry a fun group thing.
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I loved Angelina in her dark phase – to me, dark isn’t the same as bad.
I saw Angelina at San Diego’s Comic-Con in 2002 when she was promoting the 2nd Lara Croft movie. (She mentioned Maddox was with her Mom in their hotel room.) When Q&A came, I was expecting all fanboys, – instead there were long lines of young women, most of whom thanked her for talking about being goth, ‘dark,’ and cutting – so they didn’t feel alone and could believe they’d make it through. In my mental health training, I learned that cutting was a way people distracted themselves from their deep inner pain; and that when cut, a chemical in the brain was released to relieve the physical pain.
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Actually, I like both interviews. In VF, she mentioned her status with Jon Voight which is very positive and she said she wasn’t looking for an aid worker or activist amd that an actor was the last on her list until she met Brad. The EW interview gave us a glimpse of their daily life, sketching tattoos, calling Brad Honey. She still will not reveal the identity of the twins (boy, girl, girls, boys) which I’m sure will be their big suprise to their fans when they come. I just love Angie’s honesty and openness.
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Correction, she was looking not wasn’t.
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Best interview yet this year.
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I love this article…Angie comes off as a very honest person. I’m glad she doesn’t feel the need to paint herself a saint or something like that. She’s such an articulate person and I love the way she responded to question on what she thinks about her being a “polarizing” person. Oh well, this article is very enlightening and I love and admire her even more. There’s probably going to be some people who’ll pick on some of the things she said, but then again, Angie doesn’t mind…I don’t mind.
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Great interview!!!! and very revealing!
I look forward to Angie’s taking “Atlas Shrugged”.
I have read the book and it is a very serious book…. …..
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[...] can’t help but wonder what Maddox did for Brad for Father’s Day. We know from the EW interview that he drew a machine gun for Angelina Jolie and Brad had it made into a little necklace for her, [...]
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I swear this. Look at the front cover from her EW shoot. She is the virtual twin of Haylie Duff, sister of Hilary Duff!! Angie is such a chameleon, but why to look like Haylie? Inside humor?
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