Angelina Jolie: The Education of Angelina Jolie

The passion for Billy Bob Thornton is history, and the glitz is gone. The Oscar-winning star of Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life has only one man in her life now, her adopted son, and she worries more about the hunger of refugees in Africa and the danger of tigers in Cambodia than about the lost souls or carnivorous predators of Hollywood.

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THE LAST TIME I spoke with Angelina Jolie, she spent half our time talking about the two most important men in her life: her husband, Billy Bob Thornton, and her father, Jon Voight. Soon after, she went to Cambodia, where she found the new man in her life, a baby boy she adopted and named Maddox. The baby wasn't part of Billy Bob's plan for the two of them, and that very public marriage soon dissolved. Jolie's relationship with her father also went publicly south before long. When she set off to make Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life, the sequel to her first outing as Lara Croft, her father announced that he thought his new grandson needed greater stability than his daughter could provide and that he wanted custody over the child for that period. Voight also said his daughter needed some therapy. Billy Bob was quoted saying that if Angelina entered therapy he would consider taking her back. Jolie stopped speaking to or about either of these men. She concerned herself instead with acting, with helping refugees in Africa, Asia and Eastern Europe and with raising her new son.

The Angelina Jolie I speak with this time is far more introspective than the person I remember. Having witnessed human suffering up close in various parts of the world, she now donates time and large amounts of money to helping displaced people. The movie she'll star in this fall, Beyond Borders, is a romance set among people working with refugees. Of course, the more Angelina Jolie removes herself from the tinsel of Hollywood and the game of fame, the greater the interest in her grows. She has been described up to this point, not unfairly, as kooky and dark, as well as enormously talented. Whether that description holds up in view of everything that has changed in her life you can decide for yourself, as you see what Jolie has to say about herself and about her world.

LAWRENCE GROBEL: How have your experiences dealing with refugees affected you intellectually and emotionally?

ANGELINA JOLIE: It was so overwhelming, I don't know how to talk about it. It's hard to sum up these experiences because it's indescribable in a few sentences. It certainly made me a better person, made me understand human beings better, made me wish that we were all more aware of what's really going on in the world. It shocked me. I'm certainly grateful for very simple things now and I want a lot less than I've wanted before. I appreciate my family and my life and my freedoms so much more.

Q: You decided not to attend the Oscars because of the war with Iraq. But if you had attended, would you have taken advantage of the worldwide stage to say something about the causes you support?

A: I don't think the Academy Awards is the place to announce that, but I think there is a place and a time, and when that time comes, of course I'll be there. I don't think I'm educated enough yet. I want to be very responsible for what I say and what I might influence.

Q: I read that you've donated supplies and pledged $1 million to refugee programs in Afghanistan--true?

A: Yeah, and in other parts of the world.

Q: Are you building schools in Cambodia?

A: I have built 12 schools in Cambodia. It doesn't take much to make big changes. I'm actually starting an animal sanctuary around where we live.

Q: Tell me about the house you are building there.

A: It's in the middle of the jungle where there are tigers. I have a small child, but other neighbors and villagers have small children as well, so I have to see. It might take a while for me to spend extended periods of time there. There's land-mined property too, so Maddox can't run free. He may have to be a bit older for us to live there, when I know he can listen to me.

Q: Maddox wasn't in your life the last time we talked. Tell me about him.

A: I can't imagine life without him; he's amazing. Like any parent, I feel blessed every morning. He's only 20 months old and is the funniest person I've ever met. He's very silly and has the greatest laugh. He's very true to his country because he's very wild, but he has something peaceful about him and loves to be outdoors.

Q: When you went to adopt a child, how did you know he was the one?

A: I decided I was only going to go to one orphanage and adopt an orphan child. So I went and there were about 15 children. A few had been adopted and a few were unadoptable because of illness. I was followed around by a 2-year-old and thought it was a sign, so I almost adopted him. Mads was the last--he was dead asleep when I met him and when he opened his eyes, he smiled, so I figured that he liked me. He kind of accepted me, and I sensed he felt he'd be okay with me as his mom. It made sense to me, that instead of me choosing, we accepted each other.

Q: How did you choose his name?

A: Maddox is just a name I love. He also has a Khmer name, Chivan. That's his middle name.

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