BIOGRAPHY:
From Hollywood wild-child to Academy Awa
rd winner to respected U.N. Goodwill Ambassador, actress Angelina Jolie underwent a series of metamorphic transformations over the course of her career. An exceedingly beautiful, strikingly talented performer, Jolie broke onto the scene in the m
id-1990s, quickly gaining a reputation for both her on-screen work as well as her outrageous off-camera antics. Interestingly enough, however, within a decade, Jolie shed her reckless image and successfully managed to re-invent herself – not only as an artist, but also as a celebrity humanitarian of the highest order. Only half-chidingly dubbed by Esquire magazine as “the best woman in the world, in terms of her generosity, her dedic
ation and her courage,” Jolie seemed intent on remaking her image on her own terms, even as the tabloids struggled to scandalize it. In the mid-2000s, Jolie’s public profile exploded into another stratosphere when she became romantically linked with the "sexiest man alive," Brad Pitt. After his then scandalous divorce from wife Jennifer Aniston, Pitt and Jolie slowly came out as a couple to the delight of the world’s paparazzi. Now one half of the “most gorgeous couple on earth,” Jolie used her celebrity to bring attention to a number of worthwhile causes – winning the grudging respect of even the most cynical of her critics.
The daughter of actors Jon Voight and Marcheline Bertrand, Angelina Jolie (Voight) was born on Jun. 4, 1975 in Los Angeles, CA. Like her older brother by two years, director James Haven (Voight,) Jolie seemed destined for a career in the arts. At the age of 11, she began studying at the famed Lee Strasberg Theater Institute in NYC. Even before commencing her formal training, Jolie made her screen debut as a tyke in a bit part in the Hal Ashby-directed comedy "Lookin' to Get Out" (filmed in 1980; released 1982). While reviewers savaged the movie (which was co-scripted and co-produced by her father, Jon), its littlest thespian fortunately emerged unscathed. The experience briefly turned young Angelina off of show business – she even briefly considered going into funeral directing for a time – but because it was in her blood, she eventually bounced back.
With two extremely photogenic parents, it came as no surprise that Jolie inherited gorgeous good looks – most striking of all were lush lips which made her a standout from all other young girls. Her comeliness allowed her to segue back into show business, first as a professional model, and later, as an actress in music videos. In addition to appearing in five student films directed by her older brother, Jolie became a member of the Los Angeles Metropolitan Theatre Company, where she honed her craft alongside such veteran players as Holly Hunter, Ed Harris and Amy Madigan. Jolie made her return to the screen playing a heroic human-machine hybrid in the above-average direct-to-video sci-fi actioner, "Cyborg II: Glass Shadows" (1993), but the entry went virtually unnoticed by critics. Luckily, her flashy role as Kate (a.k.a. 'Acid Burn') in the cyber-thriller "Hackers" (1995) garnered her more attention and better notices. Paired with rising young British actor Jonny Lee Miller, Jolie played a teen computer whiz battling an evil genius. “Hackers” fizzled at the box office, but the romantic leads sizzled – both on-screen and off. Jolie and Miller’s chemistry eventually culminated in their wedding in 1996
. Though the two would divorce just three years later, Jolie and Miller would remain close friends even after their break-up.
More film work readily followed for Jolie, initially in small-scale character-driven indies. In an indifferently received adaptation of Joyce Carol Oates' novel "Foxfire" (1996), Jolie played a mysterious outsider named Legs Sadovsky – described in Variety as "sort of a female James Dean" – who helps some other teenaged girls stand up for their rights. In Renee Taylor and Joseph Bologna's romantic comedy-drama "Love Is All There Is" (1996), Jolie displayed a humorous and innocent light as half of a pair of star-crossed lovers divided by their families' feud. That same year, the actress appeared in the high-minded suspense drama "Without Evidence,” playing a drug-addicted teen, and "Mojave Moon,” opposite Danny Aiello. Next came "Playing God" (1997), in which Jolie capably essayed a woman torn between her gangster boyfriend (Timothy Hutton) and a discredited doctor (David Duchovny) in his employ. While the films remained largely unseen by most moviegoers, Jolie received strong notices for each of these projects.
Unlike many feature stars, Jolie showed no compunction about working on the small screen. Case in point: during the late 1990s, the actress appeared in a handful of exceptional made-for-TV productions that effectively allowed her to strut her stuff on her own terms. In 1997, Jolie received top notices for her co-starring turn alongside Annabeth Gish and Dana Delaney as Texas pioneers in the 1997 CBS histo
rical miniseries, "True Women." Jolie then brought a fiery passion to her portrayal of Cornelia Wallace, the politician's first wife, in the biographical miniseries "George Wallace" (TNT, 1997). But it was her dazzling turn as another real-life figure – the late supermodel Gia Carangi – that catapulted Jolie into the public consciousness. Jolie’s brave, sensitive performance as the drug-addicted, AIDS-stricken title character in HBO's excellent biopic "Gia" (1998) brought the beauty widespread critical acclaim. For her efforts, Jolie was twice Emmy-nominated in the supporting category for "George Wallace" (which she lost to co-star Mare Winningham) and in the leading category for "Gia" (which she ended up losing to Ellen Barkin). Fortunately, Jolie received more-than-adequate consolation for her Emmy losses by picking up two back-to-back Golden Globe Awards for both performances.
After this spate of acclaimed television appearances, Jolie found her way back into in films, landing roles that similarly showcased her acting strengths. In 1998, Jolie received special notice for her work in the comedy-drama "Playing By Heart" (1998), as Joan, an outgoing club kid smitten with the sullen Keenan (Ryan Phillippe). Vivid and engaging, Jolie easily held her own among an ensemble cast featu
ring such luminaries as Gena Rowlands and Sean Connery. The following year, the actress joined John Cusack and Billy Bob Thornton in Mike Newell's Big Apple-set comedy about air traffic controllers, "Pushing Tin" (1999). Jolie later got her feet wet in the increasingly crowded crime-drama pond playing a tough rookie cop assisting a quadriplegic detective (Denzel Washington) in "The Bone Collector” (1999), a flawed, but well-acted serial-killer thriller directed by Philip Noyce. Jolie finally rounded out the year by landing the much sought-after co-starring role of the disturbed Lisa Rowe in "Girl, Interrupted.” Based on author Susanna Kaysen's best-selling memoir of her own two-year stay in a psychiatric hospital, Jolie’s showy turn as the sociopathic inmate netted Jolie a Best Supporting Actress Oscar.
But public respect would come neither immediately nor easily for Jolie, even after winning Hollywood’s highest honor. Far more interested in her girl-gone-wild ways, the tabloids tended to dismiss her talents in favor of her more unorthodox personal life. Among the gossip fodder were her exotic tattoos, extensive collection of knives and her past “cutting” experiences, her provocative revelations and her intimations of a profoundly edgy sex life. The tabloids also made much hay out of Jolie’s close relationship with her look-alike brother, James Haven – a bond which raised many ey
ebrows after Jolie planted a passionate kiss on his lips in plain view of drooling paparazzi. It did not help matters when she declared she was “in love with her brother” upon accepting the Oscar. Media saturation would reach a boiling point, however, in mid 2000, when Jolie became the fifth wife of her “Pushing Tin” co-star – the equally eccentric and significantly older actor Billy Bob Thornton. A match made in tabloid heaven, the couple's constant declarations of love and erotic devotion to each other was capped by the wacky revelation that the two wore vials of one another's blood around each other’s necks and had sex in the car on the way to the “Pushing Tin” premiere.
Her off-screen quirks notwithstanding, the actress continued portraying tough young women on the big screen. In the flashy but unfulfilling car heist thriller "Gone in 60 Seconds" (2000), Jolie crackled in scenes even opposite notorious scene-stealing star, Nicolas Cage. Jolie’s next project was as the flesh-and-blood embodiment of the titular adventuress in "Lara Croft: Tomb Raider" (2001). Based on the wildly popular “Tomb Raider” video game franchise, Lara Croft launched an Indiana Jones-style adventure series which failed to impress critics, but racked up a healthy box office take. The film also marked Jolie’s first adult collaboration with her father, Jon Voight, who played her character's father in the film. Shortly after their on-screen pairing, however, Voight made a series of disparaging comments regarding his daught
er’s mental emotional stability (or lack thereof) to the American entertainment newsmagazine “Access Hollywood” (Synd., 1996-). Outraged by the insult, Jolie immediately responded by painting Voight as a philandering, self-righteous hypocrite who cheated on her mother. The resulting rift between father-and-daughter would last for several years and several on-camera pleas by Voight to give him another chance.
Meanwhile, back on the career front, Jolie – possibly distracted by her tumultuous personal crises – seemed a bit unfocused in her next two features. Starring opposite Antonio Banderas in the dismal noir-wannabe “Original Sin" (2001), Jolie came off less than committed, despite some steamy – and heavily hyped – erotic sequences. Her follow-up, the dramatic vehicle "Life or Something Like It" (2002) – in which she played a superficial, platinum blonde newscaster forced to examine her existence more closely – also died quickly. Jolie subsequently took a significant hiatus from film, but continued to make headlines in her personal life, divorcing Thornton in 2003 amid rumors of his infidelity (which he denied). It was also rumored that Jolie’s recent adoption of a baby boy from a Cambodian orphanage whom she named Maddox, did not help matters. The couple was allegedly at different points in their life and thus, split.
The actress returned to familiar territory for her comeback screen vehicle, the sequel "Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life" (2003), a lackluster follow-up to a lackluster first outing. Reflecting their off-screen internecin
e tensions, Voight, did not reprise his role in this second follow-up. “Cradle of Life” was followed by a turn in the too-righteous political/romantic drama "Beyond Borders" (2003). After this came a dangerous foray into Ashley Judd territory with a starring role in the routine thriller "Taking Lives" (2004), in which Jolie played an FBI profiler caught up in dangerous and erotic intrigue. Signing up for another purely commercial vehicle, the actress adopted another rich accent as she winkingly played the eyepatch-sporting Captain Frankie Cook, the leader of an all-female amphibious attack squadron, in the retro action-adventure "Sky Captain & the World of Tomorrow" (2004). Cast opposite Jude Law and fellow Oscar-winner, Gwyneth Paltrow, Jolie joined the CGI-laden action-adventure battling giant robots in an Art Deco, 1930s-era environment. Jolie then lent her voice to the finny femme fatale, Lola, in DreamWorks' CGI-animated underwater underworld opus "A Shark’s Tale" (2004). Finally, Jolie closed out the year with a bizarrely seductive turn as Alexander's mother, Olympias, who raises her son to believe in his impressive destiny, in Oliver Stone's epic historical bomb, "Alexander the Great.”
Jolie's profile as both a movie star and public figure rose to even more epic proportions when she co-starred with the equally lovely actor Brad Pitt in the Doug Liman-helmed actionfest "Mr. & Mrs. Smith" (2005). In it, the actors played a bored married couple who are actually rival assassins, each hired to kill the oth
er. Almost from the get-go, spurious rumors abounded of an on-set romance between Jolie and Pitt – innuendo that contributed to Pitt's subsequent split from his high-profile marriage to actress Jennifer Aniston. Though both Pitt and Jolie initially refuted the rumors – the two later took a coyer stance after being photographed together numerous times post-Aniston separation. The intense media and public interest in their possible romance propelled “Mr. & Mrs. Smith” to huge box office receipts, thanks in large part to their palpable on-screen chemistry. Needless to say, the "are they or aren't they?" nature of the Jolie-Pitt coupling captivated star watchers and quickly became the most written-about celebrity story of 2005 – even prompting the coining of the term "Brangelina."
Taking a page from the playbook of the late Audrey Hepburn, Jolie began using her celebrity status to bring attention to such humanitarian causes as the plight of violence-torn nations. As their relationship gradually emerged in the public eye, Pitt began to accompany Jolie on her missions of mercy to third world nations and grow ever more attached to her son, Maddox. Away from the screen, Jolie expressed a dedication and commitment to increasing awareness and aid to counties devastated by internal and external conflicts, disease and third world conditions. In 2001, after the actress made several trips to the war-torn nations of Sierra Leone, Tanzania and Pakistan, Jolie had been appointed Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nation
s High Commissioner for Refugees. It was during one of these trips that in 2005, she adopted an infant daughter from an Ethiopian orphanage whom she named Zahara. Later that year, surprising the world at large, Pitt petitioned to adopt the two children as his own. A year later, on May 27, 2006, Jolie and Pitt welcomed their biological firstborn child into the world – a daughter named Shiloh Nouvel Jolie-Pitt. Clearly serious about starting a family, in March 2007 – Jolie and Pitt made headlines once again by adopting a fourth child – a three-year-old boy from Vietnam whom they named Pax. And no one was surprised when the couple gave birth to twins Vivienne and Knox in 2008.
Returning to the big screen later that summer, Jolie next starred as Marianne Pearl, the wife of murdered journalist Daniel Pearl, in the gripping drama “A Mighty Heart” (2007). Though Jolie’s casting initially sparked a furor of controversy among minority groups, as Marianne Pearl was of Afro-Cuban/Dutch ancestry, much of the complaints dissipated upon the film’s release. Hailed by many as quite possibly the boldest performance of her career, Jolie’s portrayal of Marianne Pearl was rooted in dignity and reflected a tragic truthfulness free of exploitative sentimentality. Unfortunately, the serious film was released during the summer box office season, rendering it lost amidst all the big-budget special effect movies. Also tha
t year, Jolie became a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, then received the International Rescue Committee’s annual Freedom Award for her contributions to the cause of refugees and human freedom.
Back
on the big screen, Jolie s
tarred in the high-action comic book thriller, “Wanted” (2008), playing a supersensory assassin
who mentors an office-bound wimp (James McAvoy), turning him into a highly-skilled member of a centuries-old order of hit men. Following a leading voice role as Tigress in the blockbuster
animated family comedy, “Kung Fu Panda” (2008), Jolie returned to Oscar-caliber form with “Changeling” (2008), a period thriller inspired by true events directed by Clint Eastwood. Jolie played a distressed mother taking on the Los Angeles Police Department in 1928 when her son mysteriously reappears after having gone missing. Sure that the boy is not her son and in search of answers, she fights a corrupt bureaucracy that tries to publicly declare her unfit and delusional. Jolie’s strong performance earned her nominations at both the Golden Globes and Academy Awards for Best Actress.
