Angelina Jolie is an Oscar-winning actress who has become popular by taking on the title role in the "Lara Croft" series of blockbuster movies. Off-screen, Jolie has become prominently involved in international charity projects, especially those involving refugees. She often appears on many "most beautiful women" lists, and she has a personal life that is avidly covered by the tabloid press.
In her earliest years, Angelina began absorbing the acting craft from her parents - her father is the Oscar-winning actor Jon Voight and her mother is Marcheline Bertrand, who had studied with Lee Strasberg. At age 11, Angelina began studying at the Lee Strasberg Theatre Institute. She undertook some film studies at New York University and later joined the renowned Met Theatre Group in Los Angeles. At age 16, she took up a career in modeling and appeared in some music videos. Her exotic good looks may derive from her mixed ancestry which is Czech, French-Canadian, Iroquois and English.
In the mid-1990s, Jolie appeared in various small films where she got good notices, including Piratas Cibernéticos (1995) and Amigas (1996). Her critical acclaim increased when she played strong roles in the made-for-TV movies True Women (1997) (TV), and in George Wallace (1997) (TV) which won her a Golden Globe award and an Emmy nomination. Jolie's acclaim increased even further when she played the lead role in the HBO production Gia (1998) (TV). This was the true life story of supermodel Gia Carangi, a sensitive wild child who was both brazen and needy and who had a difficult time handling professional success and the deaths of people who were close to her. Carangi became involved with drugs and because of her needle-using habits she became, at the tender age of 26, one of the first celebrities to die of AIDS. Jolie's performance in Gia (1998) (TV) again garnered a Golden Globe award and another Emmy nomination, and she additionally earned a SAG Award.
Angelina got a major break in 1999 when she won a leading role in the successful feature O Coleccionador de Ossos (1999), starring alongside Denzel Washington. In that same year, Jolie gave a tour de force performance in Vida Interrompida (1999) playing opposite Winona Ryder. The movie was a true story of women who spent time in a psychiatric hospital. Jolie's role was reminiscent of Jack Nicholson's character in Voando Sobre Um Ninho de Cucos (1975), the role which won Nicholson his first Oscar. Unlike "Cuckoo", "Girl" was a small film that received mixed reviews and barely made money at the box office. But when it came time to give out awards, Jolie won the triple crown -- "Girl" propelled her to win the Golden Globe, the SAG Award and the Academy Award for best leading actress in a supporting role.
With her new-found prominence, Jolie began to get in-depth attention from the press. Numerous aspects of her controversial personal life became news. At her wedding to her Piratas Cibernéticos (1995) co-star Jonny Lee Miller, she had displayed her husband's name on the back of her shirt painted in her own blood. Jolie and Miller divorced and in 2000 she married her Tudo Sob Controlo (1999) co-star Billy Bob Thornton. Jolie had become the fifth wife of a man twenty years her senior. During her marriage to Thornton, the spouses each wore a vial of the other's blood around their necks. That marriage came apart in 2002 and ended in divorce. In addition, Jolie was estranged from her famous father, Jon Voight.
In 2000, Jolie was asked to star in Lara Croft: Tomb Raider (2001). At first, she expressed disinterest, but then decided that the required training for the athletic role was intriguing. The Croft character was drawn from a popular video game. Lara Croft was a female cross between Indiana Jones and James Bond. When the film was released, critics were unimpressed with the final product, but critical acclaim wasn't the point of the movie. The public paid $275 million for theater tickets to see a buffed up Jolie portray the adventuresome Lara Croft. Jolie's father Jon Voight appeared in "Croft", and during filming there was a brief rapprochement between father and daughter.
One of the Croft movie's filming locations was Cambodia. While there, Jolie witnessed the natural beauty, culture and poverty of that country. She considered this an eye opening experience, and so began the humanitarian chapter of her life. Jolie began visiting refugee camps around the world and came to be formally appointed as a Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). Some of her experiences were written and published in her popular book "Notes from My Travels" whose profits go to UNHCR.
Jolie has stated that she now plans to spend most of her time in humanitarian efforts, to be financed by her actress salary. She devotes one third of her income to savings, one third to living expenses and one third to charity. In 2002, Angelina adopted a Cambodian refugee boy named Maddox and in 2005 adopted an Ethiopian refugee girl named Zahara. Jolie's dramatic feature film Amor Sem Fronteiras (2003/I) parallels some of her real life humanitarian experiences although, despite the inclusion of a romance between two westerners, many of the movie's images were too depressingly realistic -- the film was not popular among critics or at the box office.
In 2004, Jolie began filming Mr. & Mrs. Smith (2005) with co-star Brad Pitt. The film became a major box office success. There were rumors that Pitt and Jolie had an affair while filming "Smith". Jolie insisted that because her mother had been hurt by adultery, she herself could never participate in an affair with a married man, therefore there had been no affair with Pitt at that time. Nonetheless, Pitt separated from his wife Jennifer Aniston in January 2005 and, in the months that followed, he was frequently seen in public with Jolie, apparently as a couple. Pitt's divorce was finalized later in 2005.
Actress (40 titles)
2011 Kung Fu Panda 2 (post-production) Tigress (voice) Po and the Furious Five venture to China to battle a villain and uncover the secrets of Po's mysterious origins. Director: Jennifer YuhWriters: Jonathan Aibel, Glenn BergerStars:Jack Black, Angelina Jolie and Jackie Chan Release Date:26 May 2011 (USA) 2010 The Tourist (post-production)
Revolves around Frank, an American tourist visiting Italy to mend a broken heart. Elise is an extraordinary woman who deliberately crosses his path.
Director: Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck
Writers: Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck (screenplay), Christopher McQuarrie (screenplay), and 2 more credits »
Stars:Johnny Depp, Angelina Jolie and Paul Bettany
Release Date:10 December 2010 (USA)
2010 Kung Fu Panda Holiday Special (TV movie) (post-production)
Tigress (Voice)
Director: Tim Johnson
Release Date:24 November 2010 (USA)
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2010 Salt
Evelyn Salt
A CIA agent goes on the run after a defector accuses her of being a Russian spy.
Director: Phillip Noyce
Writer: Kurt Wimmer
Stars:Angelina Jolie, Liev Schreiber and Chiwetel Ejiofor
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2008 Procurado Director: Timur Bekmambetov
Writers: Michael Brandt (screenplay), Derek Haas (screenplay), and 5 more credits »
Stars:Angelina Jolie, James McAvoy and Morgan Freeman
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2008 A Troca Christine Collins
A grief-stricken mother takes on the LAPD to her own detriment when it stubbornly tries to pass off an obvious impostor as her missing child, while also refusing to give up hope that she will find him one day. 2008 O Panda do Kung Fu Tigress (voice) In the Valley of Peace, Po the Panda finds himself chosen as the Dragon Warrior despite the fact that he is obese and a complete novice at martial arts. 2007 Beowulf Grendel's Mother The warrior Beowulf must fight and defeat the monster Grendel who is terrorizing towns, and later, Grendel's mother, who begins killing out of revenge. Director: Robert ZemeckisWriters: Neil Gaiman (screenplay), Roger Avary (screenplay), and 1 more credit » Stars:Ray Winstone, Crispin Glover and Angelina Jolie
2007 Um Coração Poderoso Mariane Pearl
2006 O Bom Pastor Margaret 'Clover' Russell
2005 Mr. & Mrs. Smith Jane Smith
2004 Alexandre, o Grande Olympias
2004 Sky Captain e o Mundo de Amanhã Franky
2004 Shark Tale Lola (voice)
2004 Tirar Vidas Illeana
2003/I Amor Sem Fronteiras Sarah Jordan
2003 Lara Croft: Tomb Raider - O Berço da Vida Lara Croft
2002 Sete Dias e uma Vida Lanie Kerrigan
2001 Pecado Original Julia Russell / Bonny Castle
2001 Lara Croft: Tomb Raider Lara Croft
2000 60 Segundos Sara 'Sway' Wayland
1999 Vida Interrompida Lisa Rowe
1999 O Coleccionador de Ossos Amelia Donaghy
1999 Tudo Sob Controlo Mary Bell
1998 Entre Estranhos e Amantes Joan
1998 Hell's Kitchen Gloria McNeary
1998 Gia (TV movie) Gia Carangi
1997 Playing God Claire
1997 George Wallace (TV movie) Cornelia Wallace
1997 True Women (TV movie) Georgia Virginia Lawshe Woods
1996 Amigas Legs Sadovsky
1996 Lua Enfeitiçada Eleanor 'Elie' Rigby
1996 Love Is All There Is Gina Malacici
1995 Piratas Cibernéticos Kate Libby / 'Acid Burn'
1995 Sem Provas Jodie Swearingen
1994 Meat Loaf: Bat Out of Hell II - Picture Show (video) (music video 'Rock and Roll Dreams Come Through') (uncredited)
1993 Cyborg 2 Casella 'Cash' Reese
1993 Alice & Viril (short) Alice
1993 Angela & Viril (short) Angela
1982 Lookin' to Get Out Tosh (as Angelina Jolie Voight)
