The “home wrecker”, the “femme fatale” and the “dominatrix” are just some of the monikers given to Angelina Jolie, who despite being a hands on ambassador for United Nations and involved in various charity works, has never been able to dispel her negative reputation.
“I’m very, very soft,” she desperately announces trying to appear more approachable and offering a description not yet publicly penned to her. “I’m a mummy who is changing diapers and colouring in all night long.”
It’s obvious that family is very much on the forefront for Angelina whose role as a mum supersedes her role as an actress with the star admitting she always takes the children into account before accepting projects. Currently promoting new movie Kung Fu Panda 2, she admits, “The kids love it and in many ways I did it for them.”
Whenever the topic of her six children – Maddox, nine, Pax, seven, five-year-old Zahara, and her biological children Shiloh, four, and two-year-old twins Vivienne and Knox – is brought up, the actress glows and it’s clear to see she’s hugely maternal, which brings us immediately to the big question: Are there plans to expand the brood?
“Well I’m on my way to putting together a football team,” she jokes. Yet, when pushed for a solid answer she teases, “Not at this time…”
Though a new tattoo of co-ordinates has sparked rumours she’s set to adopt again – the actress already has five co-ordinate tattoos on her arm each representing the birthplace of her kids – the star admits the new ink actually represents her partner, Brad, spilling, “It’s the longitude and latitude of Brad’s birthplace.”
While the Jolie-Pitt family is one that attracts major media attention, the mum-of-six admits she’s rarely referred to as a parent, instead she still struggles to shake off her negative press, which stems from her reputation of being linked to attached men and her tendency to play mean characters. The star admits, “I’m drawn to bad boys,” but at the same time there’s no denying, even as a mum, she is also somewhat of a naughty girl.
In the past Angelina was accused of stealing her Pushing Tin co-star Billy Bob Thornton from his fiancée at the time Laura Dern, who said of the betrayal, “I left our home to go and make a movie and while I was away my boyfriend got married, and I never heard from him again.” And more famously Ange fell in love with Brad Pitt onset of the Mr & Mrs Smith six years ago, consequently splitting up Hollywood’s hottest couple Brad and Jennifer Aniston. This affair made her one of the most hated actresses in showbiz.
“My alter ego is who I am 100 per cent,” she says doing little to help us see her “soft” mummsy side. Explaining she chooses film characters based on her connection with them she continues, “I’m drawn to strong characters and I admire strong women emotionally and physically.”
However, it seems the tough act is all bravado to help Ange attain her action roles, for when it comes to her family she lets down her guard. And to be honest at 35-years-old it seems being a mum has mellowed the actress who once infamously wore vials of blood round her neck.
In Kung Fu Panda 2 the Oscar winner provides the voice for Tigress who she believes helps empower her daughters, citing, “I’m especially excited to be in this movie because of my daughters. She’s one of the best characters I’ve ever played. She’s a strong female character amongst all the boys.”
The sequel also explores the subject of adoption as lead character Po discovers his family were not his birth family – a topic Ange is all too familiar with and something she has conditioned her kids to understand.
“We talk very openly in our house so orphanage and birth parents are happy words in our house” she explains. “It is not a ‘thing’. But I think they just felt more connected to Po. They identified that much more with Po. They think he is very cool and they are very proud of him. It all just seemed very normal and they loved it.”
Though it was recently rumoured that Angelina and Brad spent Dhs36.7 million a year on their children, with Dhs3.3 million alone said to be spent on nannies – they apparently have one for each kid – the star admits she’s happy being “currently unemployed,” which she excitedly says allows her to be a full-time mum for a while.
Beaming with pride it’s actually hard to get Angelina to talk about anything other than her kids. Proudly discussing her family and how Brad “gets choked up with emotion” when it comes to their brood, she makes it hard to believe that Jen could ever be an issue in their lives. This family sounds for keeps.
