Angelina Jolie Interview - Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie

I've interviewed big stars before. Tom Hanks, Tom Cruise and even most of the cast of Ocean's 12. I've also interviewed Jolie a few times before. Apparently, nothing draws out the paparazzi, the high security, and the nervous, walking-on-eggshells publicists as much as two major stars appearing in one place shortly after a tabloid-fueled rumor scandal.

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So after an hour-long line and a 30-minute wait, the interview finally began a scant one hour and six minutes after its scheduled start time. Considering the general rule of "Hollywood time" and the surrounding chaos, that actually wasn't too bad.

Q: What attributes do you think you have to defend yourself in an attack if you were an assassin?

BRAD PITT: Well, again the assassin thing is secondary to me, because the movie plays so much more on the level of relationships and that was sort of just the backdrop or a metaphor or I can't think of the word. But, having said that. She's a damn good shot. I'm a damn good shot as well.

ANGELINA JOLIE: I'd say the same. What makes a good assassin? Should I know the answer to that? Obviously, it's a film and it's our metaphor for marriage and it's kind of wild, crazy one, but I think it's a good one. And I think what makes a good assassin, I don't know. But at the end of the day it is interesting to see two people have to learn how to be a team. And I think that's the interesting thing about the film. We are both very good with weapons.

PITT: And also the idea about assassins, it's sort of an 80's concept about film. In this thing, it's kind of the thing we'd use for a husband and wife who wanted to literally kill each other. So instead of killing themselves with words or psychologically, this time we're gonna literally put a gun in their hands.

Q: Brad, how did you feel fighting a woman?

PITT: I felt good. I felt very good. [laughs] I took some shots… But again, the thing is not to be taken literally. We could go as far as we wanted to go and it's definitely one of the best sequences of the film. It became representative of how we take each other out in some form or another.

Biography

Growing up in Los Angeles, Jolie was no stranger to the film industry, being the daughter of Academy Award-winning actor Jon Voight. She later trained and performed at the Lee Strasberg Theatre Institute, where she was seen in several stage productions.

She worked as a professional model in London, New York and Los Angeles, and has also appeared in music videos for such artists as 'Meatloaf', Lenny Kravitz, Antonello Venditti and The Lemonheads. In addition, she has acted in five student films for the USC School of Cinema, all directed by her brother, James Haven.

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Trivia

Niece of Chip Taylor.

One of People Magazine's "50 Most Beautiful People." [2000]

She is extremely close to and protective of her brother James Haven. He often accompanies her to awards shows, and she used his name, or at least his memory, as inspiration in the "Where's Jamie?!" scene in Girl, Interrupted.

Has the letter "H" tattooed on the inside of her left wrist, which is a reference to two people she is close to who have this letter in their names: her brother, James Haven, and Timothy Hutton. She got the tattoo when she was dating Timothy but since their break up she now says it's only for James.

Has a tattoo of the Tennessee Williams quote, "A prayer for the wild at heart, kept in cages." on her left forearm.

Jolie is actually her middle name.

Was married to Jonny Lee Miller in a black leather pants and a white shirt. On the white shirt she painted her husband's name in her own blood (across the back).

Tattoos include the Japanese sign for death, two pointy black American Indian symbols, a dragon, and a large black cross.

Mother is Marcheline Bertrand.

Father is Jon Voight.

Majored in film at New York University.

Collects knives and has an interest in mortuary science.

Angelina and her brother, to whom she is very close, publicly spoke out to deny false rumors that the two were having an incestuous love affair. [2000]

Sister of James Haven.

Had childhood dream of becoming a funeral director.

Named the world's sexiest woman in Swedish magazine Café.

"Jolie" means "pretty" in French.

Goddaughter of actress Jacqueline Bisset.

Graduated from Beverly Hills High School at age 16.

Has the Latin phrase "Quod me nutrit me destruit" ("What nourishes me also destroys me") tattooed across her stomach.

Appointed Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in Geneva, Switzerland after her visits to Sierra Leone, Tanzania and Pakistan. [27 August 2001]

Born at 9:09 AM PST

"Introducing Angelina Jolie" in opening credits of Love Is All There Is suggests delayed release as Jolie already had at least two major screen roles by 1996.

She is of Czechoslovakian and American descent on her father's side and French and Haudenosaunee (Iroquian Indian) heritage on her mother's side.

Jolie and Thornton have adopted a Cambodian baby boy, named Maddox. Jolie took custody of the baby in Africa, where she is shooting Beyond Borders. [10 March 2002]

Performed her own stunts in Lara Croft: Tomb Raider and received cuts from the chandelier scene as a result.

Ranked #87 in Premiere's 2002 annual "Power 100" list.

In role as goodwill ambassador, visited Tham Hin refugee camp in Thailand, May 2002, to check on conditions of 9,000 refugees from bordering Myanmar.

July 2002 - confirms break up with actor Billy Bob Thornton.

Measurements: 36C-27-36.

Announced in late 2002 that she is "in talks" to portray the late porn star Linda Lovelace. Eventually, she lost the role to Courtney Love.

Goddaughter of actor Maximilian Schell.

Voted the 3rd Sexiest Female Movie Star in the Australian Empire Magazine September 2002.

Her adopted son, Maddox Chivan Thornton Jolie, was born on August 5th, 2001.

Her favorite Disney character is Dumbo the flying elephant, she has said that she cried when he was able to fly.

She is the woman most American males would like to date on New Year's Eve, according to a survey by movie rental chain Blockbuster Inc. Results of the survey showed her in the top spot with 35 percent of respondents saying she would be their number one pick for a hypothetical New Year's Eve candle-lit dinner. Rival star Catherine Zeta-Jones gained second spot in the online survey conducted by Blockbuster November 11-24, 2003. The survey had 31,969 responses.

Started modelling at the age of 14.

Was named "The sexiest woman alive" by the Swedish evening newspaper "Aftonbladet." [2003]

She was voted the ninth sexiest woman in FHM UK's top 100 sexiest in 2004.

Is planning to give up her acting career to settle in England with her son Maddox and become a full time mum. She says she wants to "Quit movies, be a great mum to Maddox and join the Parents and Teachers Association".

Favorite music: Madonna, Elvis Presley, Frank Sinatra, The Clash, Matchbox 20

Favorite TV shows: King of the Hill, the Game Show Network and Animal Planet.

Voted as #6 on the "Top 100 Sexiest Women" 2004 in FHM [DK].

She was voted #2 on VH1's "100 Hottest Hotties."

Attended same high school as Lenny Kravitz.

She and Egyptian actor Adel Imam are goodwill ambassadors for the UNHCR.

Went to High School with Michael Klesic.

Has a tattoo of a blue window on her lowerback. She claims it's because no matter where she was at any point in her life she always found herself looking out a window wishing to be elsewhere.

Ranked #6 in Stuff magazine's "102 Sexiest Women in the World." [2002]

Speaks French.

Voted #1 star most men would like to kiss under the mistletoe in a poll for Sky Movies.

Used to own a pet rat snake. Therefore had no problem shooting the snake scene in Alexander.

Went to elementary school at William O. Schaefer School in Tappan, New York.

Her father starred with her godmother Jacqueline Bisset in End of the Game, which was directed by her godfather Maximilian Schell.

Voted Hollywood's Sexiest Single Mother, in a poll for website Date.com.

Was consulted by real-life FBI profiler Robert Ressler for her role in Taking Lives

Shares a birthday with Amelia Warner, Izabella Scorupco, Prince Michael of Kent and John Drew Barrymore, Noah Wyle and Scott Wolf.

In 2003 was first recipient of the Citizen of the World Award from the UN's Correspondents' Association for her work as a goodwill ambassador with the UNHCR.

In 2004 was made an honorary citizen of Cambodia by the Prime Minister of Cambodia for her humanitarian work there.

She adopted a newborn baby girl from Ethiopia who was thought to be orphaned by AIDS. But it was later revealed that the child's mother did not have the money to care for her. She named the girl Zahara Marley Jolie. July 6th 2005

She ranked #2 in 2000 on Mr. Blackwell's Worst Dress List.

Named Esquire Magazine's Sexiest Woman Alive in 2004.

Named Most Beautiful Woman in People Magazine's 50 Most Beautiful People 2005 issue. More than 500,000 readers were polled.

In August, 2005 was made an official citizen of Cambodia by the King for her ongoing efforts to help the environment there.

The King of Cambodia has signed legal papers giving her Cambodian Citizenship (August 2005)

Was nominated for Worst Actress at the Razzie Awards for four straight years from 2002 to 2005, but each time was beaten by another of her fellow nominees. She has still yet to "win" an award.

When filming the Lara Croft: Tomb Raider she set fire to her silk pajamas on the chandelier while she was doing her 'bungee jumps' in the house. She was taken to a hospital with minor burns but resumed filming the next day.

Q: Angelina, what was it like to know you had to kick, hit, and then make love to him in one scene?

JOLIE: I wasn't upset about that. [laughs] It's a strange thing we all do for a living and at the end of the day it's a really fun script. It's about love and marriage so it has all of those things in it. And I dunno, it's got all the elements to make a great film so it was fun to do.

Q: Angelina, you've never done a romantic comedy before. What was it like?

JOLIE: I was really uncomfortable and I was really unsure of myself, because I've never really done one. But everybody on this panel made me feel comfortable. I got scared.

PITT: Yet she came up with the funniest jokes in the jam sessions.

Q: Who is the best shot?

JOLIE: We will debate this forever.

PITT: We're going to start fighting again.

JOLIE: Not a good thing to ask us.

Q: Where have you gotten these skills?

JOLIE: Throughout my life. [laughs]

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Q: Which other actresses were considered for Ms. Smith before Angelina?

PITT: Well, at one point there was another actress and she had to drop out. And then we certainly had a great contender with Angelina, because it was really important that "Mr." and "Mrs." had some form of equality. What I mean by that, when you have fight scenes when you're literally punching the s**t out of each other, you have to believe they are very evenly matched…

Q: Brad, how did you achieve the chemistry on screen?

PITT: Between me and Vince [Vaughn]? [laughs] We didn't need any chemistry; we'd just look into each other's eyes. It caused a lot of discomfort, but Vince and I got over the worst and we're resigned to be just friends. And we respect each other professionally and that's all I have to say about it.

Q: Is there a future?

PITT: Is there a future? I dunno.

Q: Why have you died your hair blonde, Brad?

PITT: I just was concerned that I wasn't getting enough publicity. I wanted to do something to draw more attention. [laughs]

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Q: What do you like most and dislike most about each other?

JOLIE: That's only slightly personal.

PITT: Ok, next? Again, as I laid it out, it's just a think tank of us throwing in bits and pieces from our own relationships and having a good laugh over it. As far as the other one, I'm abstaining.

JOLIE: Yeah, me too.

PITT: But if you want, about Vince Vaughn. He's a good lover. He makes a wonderful eggs benedict. [laughs] But I hate his morning breath. Toenails, wish he'd clip them.

Q: Obviously, this movie is surrounded by an incredible machine. It must have been like an experience you never had. How do you put it behind you and concentrate on the work?

PITT: I don't see the approach different from any other film. You go in and try and make the film work. Make some good friends along the way. And this one we cracked, I believe.

Q: There are tons of paparazzi outside, security is like for the President of the United States. How do you feel about that?

JOLIE: Doug [Liman] is causing the problem. It's crazy that there is any attention that is put around us considering all the other things that are going on the world. You understand certain gossip. You understand certain things about films, things like that. But certainly this one has been ridiculous to how much attention has been paid. But does anybody here focus about it? We're all smart enough to know it shouldn't be part of our consciousness and we should focus on our lives and our families and our jobs and just try to pretend it's not there. It's unhealthy too.

Q: Which kind of romantic comedy do you love?

PITT: Romantic comedies, we talked a lot about The Philadelphia Story, which was one of our favorites. For the exquisite banter and the eloquent writing and brilliant performances. That was probably the bar in my book…

Q: How important is freedom of speech to both of you?

PITT: Freedom of speech? I believe it's everything. I believe everyone should have it. I think Angie will speak much more on it.

JOLIE: I think freedom of speech is important, but I think we can also be very sloppy with it within our present times with how we interpret things. I think sometimes there is so much that we don't even really hear each other and miss important things and it becomes just excitable news. And the idea that freedom of speech is misused and turned into something that is shocking and shallow and not what it is really meant to be.

20th Century Fox

Q: Do you think there is a sequel in this and what in the sequel would you want to happen?

JOLIE: Now, I don't think you can answer anything like that. If you were to ask me to today, not today, but I don't know, you never know. I think a more interesting answer to that would be if we were to take them to the next evolution it would be that they can take on anything, but a bunch of little kids would take them on. And I think there is something beautiful about that because we all know about children. No matter how tough they are that would be their greatest challenge.

PITT: I'm sorry, I have no answer to that. It always comes down to script and if the script works there is a possibility, but who can say at this point.

Q: What is next for both of you?

PITT: I'm doing into a thing with Andrew Dominic this fall called The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford.

JOLIE: I'm going to a thing that Robert De Niro is directing called The Good Shepherd.