What’s rarely touched upon,
however, is the sheer amount of
living she’s managed to pack into her 34
years. At an age when many of us are still
in the process of sussing things out –
buying a house, planning a wedding,
dreaming of a new life abroad – Angelina
is a mother of six, has been married twice,
won an Oscar, received three Golden
Globes for Best Actress and topped this
year’s Forbes Celebrity 100 List, making
her officially the most powerful female
star on the planet. Put simply, she’s lived
a thousand lives, which could make you
feel a tad inadequate – perhaps why
women, as well as being her most staunch
supporters, can still be a little wary of her.
A BLESSED LIFE
In the flesh, however, there’s really no
need. Dressed in an understated outfit
when we meet (her beauty doesn’t exactly
call for much embellishment) in charcoal
trousers, a grey cashmere V-neck and
plain suede boots, her admission that life
is “absolute chaos at times” immediately
melts away any impression that she’s
incapable of vulnerability.
“I’m very lucky and very blessed,” she
admits, when asked how life is treating
her these days. “There’s a lot of love in
our house. Pax and Zee have bonded
remarkably well because they are so
close in age. And Mad and Pax are a
formidable item when together – and
they all adore the twins.” As for Brad?
“Well he’s a marvellous father. He’s so
into the boys’ things, like cars and mud
and getting dirty.”
Her answers today are a far cry
from her interviews of old. In the past,
Angelina seemed eager to provoke the
press, posing suggestively with thenhusband
Billy Bob Thornton and bragging
about having sex in limos. It seems with
age and motherhood, however, that she
no longer feels the need for quite so
much drama – although she admits her
ample family can be a handful. “I wouldn’t
change a single second of that. They
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DADDY’S GIRL:
WITH JON VOIGHT,
AGED 11, IN 1986
have their moments, like any kids, when
they wind each other up, but that’s
normal, and I’m proud of them.”
Angelina was just 27 when she
adopted her first child, Maddox Chivan,
from an orphanage in Battambang,
Cambodia. Having previously been as
famous for her ‘alternative choices’ as
her acting (she kissed her brother on the
lips when she won the Best Supporting
Actress Oscar for Girl, Interrupted in
1999), becoming a mother was the
catalyst for some major changes in
her life. Over the last seven years, she’s
added a further five children – three
conceived by her and Brad, two more
adopted – to her family. While she’s faced
criticism for her approach to parenting,
she’s been fastidious about ensuring her
adopted children are educated about
their birthplace – she took Zahara back
to her native Ethiopia last month for the
first time since she was adopted, leaving
Brad at home with the kids.
She is, she says, “a hands-on mum.
I don’t lounge around watching daytime
television – no mother to six children
could. There’s always one of ours
demanding that I help colour in
something very important with crayons...”
While it might seem ambitious to most
of us, adding to her family is still on her
mind. “Yes, of course. I can see further
additions to the family – both adopted
and our own. But then we have to make
sure that we can devote enough time
to each of them.” It does beg questions
about how thin she’s spreading herself
and the possible motivation behind
packing so much into her life and at such
a fast pace. Instinct tells you the death of
Angelina’s mother – she wells up during
our interview the instant her name is
1975 – Angelina Jolie
Voight was born in
Los Angeles,
California
1982 – Made her
screen debut as
a seven-year-old
alongside her father
Jon Voight in the film
Lookin’ To Get Out.
A bomb at the box
office turned cult hit.
1989 – Angelina began
working as a fashion
model, signing with
Finesse Model
Management.
1991 – The star takes
embalming classes
to fulfil her teenage
ambition of becoming
a funeral director.
Thankfully it turned
out to be a faze.
1994 – Stars in music
video for Meat Loaf’s
Rock & Roll Dreams
Come Through. She
mentioned – has had a significant bearing
on how she’s chosen to lead her life.
Marcheline Bertrand, Angelina’s mum,
was just 53 when she lost her seven-year
battle with ovarian cancer in 2007.
Bertrand, who was also an actress,
separated from actor Jon Voight when
Angelina was a baby and promptly gave
up her own acting career to raise her
daughter and older son James.
Mother and daughter were close, even
sharing an acting teacher, and when she
finally succumbed to the cancer, James,
Angelina and Brad were at her bedside.
The name of the couple’s second son,
Pax, was chosen from a list of names
picked by Bertrand before her death.
“You know, I never heard her ever once
complain, and I never ever in all her life
heard her cuss,” remembers Angelina.
“She was very gentle, very sweet – she
“A handshake is all I can handle
from people who aren’t close to me.
I have no idea why it is”
had two nicknames, ‘The great lady’ and,
because she was such a darling, the other
was a play on her name; ‘Marshmallow’
instead of Marcheline. I never knew
her as angry – but boy, if anything ever
threatened her kids, she could be fierce!
“Mom died far too young,” Angelina
continues, “but boy, did she put up a
battle against her cancer. When you see
someone in pain, you would be so selfish
if you weren’t happy when they finally
leave all that behind. Mom’s death was a
terrible loss, but the twins [born 18 months
later, in July 2008] were a wonderful
gain. That is what life is all about.”
Her mother’s lengthy illness and
subsequent death seems to have been
the driving force in the creation of her
multi-racial family. The adoption of
Angelina’s first child, Maddox, coincided
with the time her mother first became ill.
For now, Angelina’s priority is giving
THE�CV�OF�THE�WORLD’S�MOST�POWERFUL�WOMAN
later stars in videos
for Lenny Kravitz,
The Lemonheads and
Rolling Stones.
1995 – Meets her first
husband, Jonny Lee
Miller, while filming
her first Hollywood
movie, Hackers.
1997 – Her
performance as
Cornelia Wallace in
the 1997 biographical
film George Wallace
her six a normal childhood. “I don’t
want them raised as children who have
‘movie star’ parents,” she insists. The
daughter of famous parents herself
(hers were both actors), she speaks
from experience. “I grew up around
that myself and want to make sure
ours are removed from it.”
Angelina’s difficult relationship with
her own father is well documented.
After having a haphazard presence
in her early years, which she admitted
was responsible for many of her earlier
emotional struggles, she halted contact,
saying a few years ago, “I don’t believe
that somebody’s family becomes their
blood. Families are earned.” She officially
dropped his surname in September 2002
(Jolie was originally her middle name)
after Voight told a US television show
that he hoped Angelina would seek help
for her “serious emotional problems”.
A FAMILY ON THE MOVE
Despite Angelina’s insistence that she
wants her children to have a ‘normal’ life,
their lifestyle is anything but, and the
Jolie-Pitts have been criticised for the
lack of stability offered to children
who regularly move around the globe.
Angelina shrugs this off. “The great
education that we can give our children
is travelling,” she says. “I want the
children to grow up being tolerant and
understanding of others, to see the
beauty of other, different cultures.”
She and Brad split their US time
between two bases in LA and New
Orleans. The £19m Beverly Hills mansion
boasts outdoor an waterfall (rumoured
to be a favoured al fresco sex spot for
the sexually adventurous pair) and
side-by-side swimming pools. Further
afield is their 30,000-sq ft lakeside palace
in Berlin and an eco-home on Angelina’s
land in Cambodia. This summer, the Pitts
further expanded their plump portfolio
by purchasing a French chateau. Set
among 1,000 acres of vineyards,
it cost a cool £34m and boasts 35
bags her a Golden
Globe and Emmy
nomination.
1998 – Ange stars in
Gia, a TV mini-series
about supermodel
BREAKTHROUGH: STARRING IN
GIRL, INTERRUPTED ALONGSIDE
WINONA RYDER IN 1999
Gia Carangi. She’s
highly praised for
her portrayal of the
drug-addict model
and wins a Golden
Globe and Screen
WORDS��ELAINE�LIPWORTH���PHOTOGRAPHY��CORBIS�OUTLINE��GETTY�IMAGES��REX�FEATURES
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