Angelina Jolie Had Acting ‘Thrust Upon’ Her
Award-winning actress Angelina Jolie revealed in an interview that she had acting “thrust upon” her by her mother, Marcheline Bertrand.
“My mom always wanted me to be an actor. And I started going to theater and going on auditions young. I only realized about five years ago that I actually didn’t want to be an actor.”
Angelina also revealed that she wasn’t particularly drawn to the spotlight. Ms. Jolie said in the interview that she preferred a more quiet life, away from the celebrity lifestyle that comes with success in Hollywood. Instead, Ms. Jolie prefers to concentrate on her family, which includes six children: Maddox, 13, Pax, 11, Zahara, 10, Shiloh, nine, and twins Knox and Vivienne, six.
“I’m a very private person. I don’t go out much. I’m home with kids. I go to work. I don’t really like being the focus of attention, which is why I like being behind the camera more.”
Ms. Jolie first explored her directorial ambitions with the romantic drama, In The Land of Blood and Honey, a 2011 film about a friendship complicated by the Bosnian War. Angelina more recently directed Unbroken, the true story of Olympian Louis Zamperini. Ms. Jolie will again be directing By The Sea, a film which she has also written and will star in alongside husband Brad Pitt.
In spite of her recent successes, Angelina regrets not being able to explore her directing ambitions sooner, which she blames on her upbringing and accessibility to other resources.
“I never knew the other. I grew up with my career being thrust upon me. It took me a long time to believe that I could do more than that one aspect of our business.”
Angelina added that she still doesn’t feel as though she’s earned the title of director, and Jolie is reluctant to place herself in that category.
“I’m shy to call myself a director still. When someone says, ‘What do you do for a living?’ I don’t know if I’ve earned that.”
Although it seems that Angelina Jolie is trying to get away from acting, she does still seem to be open to roles that inspire her, and that includes some science fiction franchises. In the same interview, Angelina told Unbroken star Domhnall Gleeson that she would find a Star Wars role too appealing to pass down. Ms. Jolie even confessed to having a crush on one Star Wars character in particular…and it wasn’t Han Solo!
[Featured image: Angelina Jolie courtesy of Michael Buckner/Getty Images for BFCA]
