Angelina Jolie: The Education of Angelina Jolie

Q: How much time do you get to spend with him?

A: He's with me all the time except during the hours I'm working. We wake up together, go to the set in the morning, and he usually goes home after lunch. When I finish work, I run home. Mad goes to bed late, so we have a few hours together. He sleeps next to me. He needs stability and permanence now, safety and security in the middle of the night, especially when we move to some new place or hotel.

Q: How has being a mother made you more focused?

A: I became more focused before I decided to be a mother. Maddox made my life more focused but also caused a huge amount of chaos, in a beautiful way. I've never cleaned so much and crawled on the floor so much--and I wouldn't trade it for anything.

Q: Let's talk about your work. For the first Tomb Raider you learned to box, shoot and paddle a canoe. What have you learned for the second?

A: Kendo stick fighting, jet skiing, quick horse riding, rifle shooting, rappelling. I love kendo. I think there's something great that you can pick up a broom and attack.

Q: Were you surprised at how much money the first one made?

A: I was more relieved that it did fine and people were satisfied. I had never been involved in a summer movie before, and I was surrounded by people who were so aware of what the first weekend did and what that meant. I hated it. I'm not looking forward to going through that again because it's not what this is about, and yet for these films it's part of it.

Q: Were you satisfied with the first one?

A: I wouldn't have done the second one if I thought we did the first one perfectly. There's a lot I still wanted to do or do differently or do better.

Q: Is it true your love interest in the film is also the villain?

A: We've got quite a few villains in it. There are five really strong men in this movie, which became kind of a joke. We thought about what kind of man would be an equal for Lara Croft. We figured five would do.

Q: Jan De Bont directs this movie. What happened to Simon West, who directed the first one?

A: That was all studio stuff. I just know that at some point they said it wasn't going to be Simon.

Q: West said that for the first one he wanted you because you have a dark edge. How much of that is who you are, and how much of that is a media creation?

A: I'm capable of being stronger and darker and fiercer than anybody's ever written, but in the way they're talking about, it's in a showy, silly way. I now have a sense of purpose and something to protect in my life, and I think I'm capable of quite a lot. When I was younger, I had no channel for all my energies, and that's what caused a lot of that angst and that wild side or what's considered dark. To be honest, it's that fight inside of us that makes you go to the middle of a different country or be willing to stand at a place where danger is, to do something good or do anything to protect your child.

Q: Beyond Borders, which will come out in the fall, is a more serious movie dealing with relief efforts in war-torn nations. How did making it affect you?

A: It was the most wonderful experience I ever had making a film because it's absolutely where my heart and soul lie. The middle section of the film takes place on the Cambodia-Thai border in 1978, which is Mad's history and his people. It's not just about refugees or war zones; it's very much about people. It's an epic love story.

Q: Your character is married to Linus Roache, but don't you fall for a doctor played by Clive Owen?

A: It's not an obvious triangle. It's not the husband that doesn't understand.

Q: What stars would you say you've had the most chemistry with?

A: Clive and I have very good chemistry, some of the best I've had. Jonny [Lee Miller, who costarred with her in Hackers and became her first husband] and I had very good chemistry.

Q: How about Denzel Washington, your costar in The Bone Collector?

A: With Denzel it was so cerebral. There's a side of Denzel that's a thinker and there's a side of me that's a thinker

and we got on really well.

Q: What about with Ed Burns, your costar on the more recent Life or Something Like It?

A: I think Ed would be the first to tell you he and I had no chemistry, which we thought was funny. We were whales out of water.

Q: Do you keep in touch with actors you've worked with in past films?

A: Some. Jillian Armenante, who was in Girl, Interrupted, she and I are very, very close. I don't have a great circle of friends. I usually just get close with people I'm working with at the time.

Q: What do you think about the shoplifting trial of your Girl, Interrupted costar, Winona Ryder? Did you ever talk to her about what happened?

A: I haven't talked to her, but I heard from friends that she's doing well. I think you feel for anybody who is so in the public eye. I don't think anyone is going to forget it anytime soon, so it's going to be hard for her to come out of it. When such a circus has been made, it makes it very difficult to move on. I hope she can.

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