She’s an actress, director, wife, mother and a UN special envoy on refugee issues. We find out how Angelina Jolie Pitt does it all
She’s an actress, director, wife, mother and a UN special envoy on refugee issues. We find out how Angelina Jolie Pitt does it all
Angelina Jolie Pitt has always had a fearless streak. A teenage rebel, her acting career helped channel her inner rage and sense of alienation. Though success came quickly, she still felt gripped by existential woes. Becoming a United Nations Goodwill Ambassador in 2001 was a first step in relieving that anxiety, followed by the adoption of her first child Maddox in 2002 and her relationship with Brad Pitt, which they publicly declared in 2004. They were instant life partners, and a decade later they confirmed their devotion to each other and their children by getting married in August 2014. Since then, Angelina, 40, has completed her third directorial effort, By The Sea – which she also wrote and acted in with Brad. The film was about an estranged couple battling grief and each other. Virtually the entire film involves them despairing and otherwise trying to find meaning to their fragile relationship while the audience is kept hanging as to whether the result is rapprochement or final separation. “We made the film during our honeymoon,” Angelina says. “It wasn’t the easiest thing to do with your partner, but we had our children with us and when we came home we didn’t carry the difficult emotions with us. That helped us deal with everything and in the end the experience brought us closer together.” Though By The Sea tapped on deep and difficult emotions, Angelina’s next movie was quite the opposite. She lends her voice to Tigress, one of the key characters in Kung Fu Panda 3, which is yet another spirited adventure saga in the Kung Fu Panda franchise. “My kids have always loved these films because they teach such beautiful values about family and what it means to face up to difficult challenges in life,” Angelina says. “There are so many lessons in these stories and young people need positive messages like those that help Po (the protaganist) define who he is and how he wants to make his way in the world.”
That family message is explored all the more deeply in Kung Fu Panda 3 which sees Po reunited with his long-lost father, Li, who journey together to a Shangri-La-like secret panda paradise. This idyllic life is threatened by the looming presence of the villainous Kai who has been sweeping across China and defeating all the kung fu masters in his wake. Po goes on a mission to train a village full of his fun-loving brethren into becoming the ultimate band of Kung Fu panda warriors! In terms of her United Nations work, Angelina’s involvement has grown by leaps and bounds. In April 2012, after over 10 years of continuous work with the UN, Angelina was appointed the Special Envoy of UN High Commissioner for Refugees António Guterres (UNHCR). In this role, she represents UNHCR at the diplomatic level and strives to find solutions for mass population displacement. Quite recently, Angelina worked on raising awareness about the conflict in Syria, where thousands of Syrians fled to neighbouring countries on a daily basis. She was in support of increasing humanitarian aid and developmental support to Syria and the surrounding countries affected by Syria’s civil war. At present, Angelina Jolie Pitt and Brad divide their time between homes in Los Angeles, London, and their sprawling Chateau Miraval estate on the French Cote d’Azur. They have six children: Maddox, 14, Pax, 12, Zahara, 11, all adopted, and their natural offspring Shiloh, 9, and twins, Knox and Vivienne, 7. She says her family comes first. “Brad and I have so much joy in raising our children and teaching them about the world that nothing compares to that. We have our work, but I tend to think of my acting career as a small part of my life. I want to spend more time with my family and also travelling the world on behalf of the United Nations,” she says.
Did you worry about the risks to your own domestic tranquility when you decided to write the screenplay of By The Sea and then direct it and act in it with your husband?
“It wasn’t the safest choice you can make but we’re both actors who are looking to challenge ourselves. We knew it would probably be exhausting and difficult to play these characters but we were ready for that. We also knew that the characters are very different from us and that we could separate our own feelings from those our characters are expressing. But of course you’re drawing on your own emotions and bringing out aggressive and angry behaviour because you need that for your scenes together.”
Was it exhausting for you and Brad?
“It was very difficult on certain days but we’ve been together a long time and we know each other very well. We didn’t allow it to affect our own feelings for each other or stir up things. We also had to go back to our children and to our usual lives as parents which helped take us out of whatever mood we have left the set in.”
Are the Kung Fu Panda films a chance for you to escape into a more light-hearted world?
“I’m usually very light-hearted when I’m home with my family and I get to be with my kids. People often see me in serious roles or talking about difficult stories like By The Sea and you get a different impression of me. But I love getting to play Tigress and enter that childlike world of imagination. It’s something very close to my heart and I love being part of Po’s world and everything that children can learn from his experiences.”
How does your life as a mother feel different from the time when your life was more focused on your acting?
“The children are so much a part of my life and Brad’s that we don’t worry about not working more often. Brad still enjoys acting as much as he always has and I’m fully supportive. Acting is just not as important in my life as it once was and I’m very happy to be able to spend most of my time looking after our children.”
What are you like as a mother?
“I’m very honest with them and often talk to them about serious issues so that they’re not scared by things they don’t understand or grow up with illusions about the world around them. I also want them to be able to explore their imaginations and be able to play with them and alow them to enjoy that wonderful feeling that comes with being young. But Brad and I both want them to grow up ready to deal with the real world and know that we will always be there to support them.”
How does directing a film compare to the kind of involvement when you’re acting in it?
“On my first two films, I was away from the children much more and that’s when having a great father helped me deal with that kind of stress. Brad has always been willing to support me and assume the responsibility of looking after our family when I haven’t had the time. That has given me the confidence to be able to commit to different projects and know that we can still be a happy family even when I need to spend some time away.”
You travel a lot as a family together. Does that make things harder?
“When I feel I’m doing too much, I do less, if I can. I’m in a rare position where I don’t have to do job after job. I can take time, when my family needs it. I’m editing now. The nice thing about being a director is that I can say, ‘I can only get into the room after the kids are at school, and I have to be back for dinner. And they’re coming for lunch.’ I feel like women in my position, when we have all at our disposal to help us, shouldn’t complain when we consider all of the people who are really struggling, and don’t have the means or support. Many people are single, raising children. That’s hard.”
Do you think children today grow up too fast?
“It’s harder for kids to retain their innocence. With the older ones, you need to help them understand what’s happening but you also want them to learn about history, literature and other things that will help them gain a better perspective while they’re growing up. As a parent, you want to create a safe environment where your children feel loved and secure. If your children have that, it builds their self-confidence and that’s going to help them deal with the problems that they’re going to face later in life.”
Does life as it is today seem very far removed from your perspective on things when you were a teenager or in your twenties?
“It’s a big difference but all the pain I went through was my way of trying to get to where I am now. I thought I wasn’t accomplishing enough and all the characters I played in my films were leading much more interesting lives than I was. The basic thing was that I was searching for some greater purpose and goal in life, and when I started working with the United Nations and doing humanitarian work I began feeling that I could point to something concrete that I was doing to help people who had very little hope. I’m very glad to have been able to do that work.”
“Acting is just not as important in my life as it once was and I’m very happy to be able to spend most of my time looking after our children” – Angelina Jolie
