Angelina Jolie Previews ‘Maleficent: Mistress of Evil’ — Plus Your Complete Guide to All of Her Most Famous Roles

‘Lookin’ to Get Out’ (1982)

Actors Jon Voight and Burt Young (who you probably know as Paulie from the Rocky franchise) play a pair of criminal losers in New York, who attempt to change their luck by heading to Las Vegas to break a casino bank. A very young Angelina (Jon’s actual daughter) plays Tosh.

‘Cyborg 2’ (1993)

Angelina is human-looking cyborg Casella “Cash” Reece, an assassin and spy who is desperate to survive despite the fact she is set to self-destruct at some point. To change her likely future, she turns to martial arts expert Colson “Colt” Ricks (Elias Koteas) and a fellow cyborg (Jack Palance), all of whom have to avoid the man on their trail, Daniel Bench (Billy Drago).

Years later, Angelina shared her reaction to seeing the finished film for the first time with BuzzFeed: “Oh, I threw up. I did. I saw it and I threw up. Just nausea. But the kickboxing was fun. It was the first time I was sent to do kickboxing. But I was 17 and I think I thought I was making a real movie, which is odd, since there’s a scene when I’m decapitated and talking … as one does. But, yeah, I saw it and got really sick. I just remember my brother Jamie [Haven] holding me and saying, ‘It’s going to be all right.'”

‘Hackers’ (1995)

A group of high schoolers (Angelina among them) use their computer hacking skills (at a time when the general public didn’t know much about the Internet) in what becomes a corporate extortion conspiracy.

‘Without Evidence’ (1996)

Describes Wikipedia, “Without Evidence is based on the true story of Michael Francke, who was the Head of Corrections for the state of Oregon before being murdered. Just before his murder, Francke visits his brother and informs him of a drug ring involving his prison colleagues. When Michael is killed, his brother begins his own investigation into the murder, leading him to more lies and deceit.” Angelina plays Jodie Swearingen.

‘Love Is All There Is’ (1996)

Take Shakespeare’s Romeo & Juliet and transport it to the modern day (or modern day 1996) Bronx and you’ve got the idea behind this romantic comedy with Angelina taking on the Juliet stand-in, Gina Malacicis, daughter of restaurant owners who have recently moved to America from Italy. To no one’s happiness, she falls in love with the son of a local Sicilian caterer.

‘Mojave Moon’ (1996)

Going through something of a mid-life crisis, a car dealer salesman (Danny Aiello) finds himself falling in love, which leads him into a series of misadventures with a guy with a dangerous agenda, a woman (Anne Archer) and her loose and wild daughter (Angelina).

‘Foxfire’ (1996)

Angelina is one of five teenage girls who beat up a teacher who had sexually harassed them, but feeling empowered by the action, their lives grow out of control.  “I love the character,” Angelina told James Lipton on an episode of Inside the Actor’s Studio.  “There’s something about her that I was connected to emotionally; I cared about her. I think that every character is a part of you and a part of the character that you are going to evolve into, that you are not yet. So she was both: a part of me and then something about her was something that I admired that I was yet to become.”

‘Playing God’ (1997)

A disgraced surgeon (David Duchovny) leaves his former life and enters the criminal underworld as a gunshot doctor for criminals. Angelina has more of a supporting role in this one.

‘Gia’ (1998)

This HBO film tells the story of the life of Gia Carangi, a top fashion model from the late 1970s, from her meteoric rise to the forefront of the modeling industry, to her untimely death from AIDS.  “Playing a real person,” Angelina related to BuzzFeed, “you identify with and can feel a responsibility. Then you live inside her world for a bit and you just feel so deeply sad that she never really knew love and felt she was of value other than a thing or a face. And at that time, with AIDS, I can’t even imagine how she must have felt about how she was treated.”

‘Hell’s Kitchen’ (1998)

An odd mix of plot elements, with Johnny (Mekhi Phifer) — found guilty of murder during a robbery — being released after a five-year prison sentence. He attempts to turn his life around by turning to an ex-heavyweight contender (William Forsythe) to learn how to box. Meanwhile, Gloria (Angelina), holds Johnny responsible for the death of her brother and wants her current boyfriend to kill him, but the man — without telling her why — refuses to do so, because he knows that Johnny wasn’t responsible.

‘Playing by Heart’ (1998)

This film is an exploration of how 11 random people find their lives impacted by love. While Angelina plays an aspiring actress who is pursuing a shy man (Dennis Quaid), her co-stars include Sean Connery, Gene Rowlands, Madeleine Stowe, Anthony Edwards, Gillian Anderson and Jon Stewart.

‘Pushing Tin’ (1999)

John Cusack and Billy Bob Thornton play a pair of air traffic controllers who find themselves locked in a feud with each other that impacts on their lives. Angelina plays Billy Bob’s wife.

‘The Bone Collector’ (1999)

Policewoman Amelia Donaghy (Angelina) is in hot pursuit of a serial murderer whose calling card is a small shard of bone extracted from each of his victims. Unable to decipher the cryptic clues the killer leaves behind at the scene of the crime, Amelia calls upon quadriplegic forensic criminology expert Lincoln Rhyme (Denzel Washington) to help.

In her research to play the part of Amelia, Angelina Jolie examined numerous crime scene photographs and reports. She says, “I had to do it to know what my reaction would be. You can’t swallow, your mouth drops open and you just feel your guts empty — it’s not emotional, it’s a physical reaction.”

‘Girl, Interrupted’ (1999)

Set in the changing world of the late 1960s, Girl, Interrupted is the true story of Susanna Kaysen (Winona Ryder), who finds herself at a renowned mental institution for troubled young women, where she must choose between the world of people who belong on the inside — like the seductive and dangerous Lisa (Angelina) — or the often difficult world of reality on the outside. Angelina related to BuzzFeed, “I really, genuinely thought I was the only character who was sane in the entire film. And if you watch it closely, that’s exactly how I was playing it: I am just the only sane person here. I was actually almost upset when people said I was so good at playing insane, because I never thought she was insane. She was just incredibly honest, which, I guess, made her seem crazy.”

‘Gone in 60 Seconds’ (2000)

A retired master car thief (Nicolas Cage) must come back to the industry and steal fifty cars with his crew in one night to save his brother’s life. Along the way he is reunited with a former lover (Angelina). Explains the actress, “He’s been gone an she thinks she’s finally gotten over him and cleaned up her life, and then he walks back in. And even when she discovers why he’s there, she’s still hesitant to become involved with him again. I like her, though, because she’s not a woman who hates men. She loves them, she’s one of them. She’s equal to them at their game, but she’s also totally female, very sexy and she’s not going to deny that.”

‘Lara Croft: Tomb Raider’ (2001)

Angelina brings video game adventurer Lara Croft to life in a movie where she races against time and villains to recover powerful ancient artifacts. On a personal level, as she related to Hollywood.com, the role and the experience of making the movie revealed a new side of herself: “This was a side of myself that I didn’t think was in me. But it wasn’t a surprise to people who know me. You spend so much time in your head as an actor, living in the dark, you forget to be free. And I’m the first person to be looking for what freedom means and to feel trapped and in a cage. It took me a while to realize that when I was standing at the edge of a waterfall in Cambodia, and I was so happy … God, I really learned what the world is about. Now it makes more sense to me, because if this is how I’ve needed to be my whole life and I didn’t have an outlet for it, it maybe explains why I’m a little crazy.”

‘Original Sin’ (2001)

Antonio Banderas and Angelina play a couple who come up with a plan to rob a rich man by earning his trust, her marrying him and then their stealing everything he’s got. The plan hits a snag, though, when she finds herself falling in love with him. “What attracted me to the part,” Angelina tells Screenslam in a video interview, “was the duality of the self that I think we all have; and that side of us where we don’t know what we’re capable of or maybe we have things we’re ashamed of, or sides of ourselves we don’t want people to know about. We maybe would like to think that we could be pure, good people, and we wonder if we could ever be loved for everything we are.”

‘Life Or Something Like It’ (2002)

TV reporter Lanie Kerrigan (Angelina), who leads a pretty superficial life, encounters a psychic from the streets who claims, among other things, that she’s going to die the following week. When some of his statements do come to pass, she finds herself re-examining the life she’s living and what her priorities are. “I like the essence of the story,” says Angelina in an AP video interview. “And I like what it says at the end of the day. Part of it was probably because she offends me and I find her just so horrible. She’s everything that I can’t stand in a person; who she is in the majority of the film. She’s so lost, so she’s horrible to me and sad and kind of funny. It was just something I’d never done before, never tried, and I didn’t think I could do it, which is always a good reason to try something.”

‘Lara Croft: Tomb Raider — The Cradle of Life’ (2003)

Intrepid British archaeologist Lara Croft has made perhaps the most important archaeological discovery in history: an orb that leads to the mythical Pandora’s Box. Unfortunately, the orb falls into the hands of Jonathan Reiss, an evil scientist who deals in killer viruses and hopes to sell the secrets of the box as the ultimate weapon. Recruited by British Intelligence to get the orb back from Reiss, Lara recruits Terry Sheridan, a British marine turned mercenary (and her former love interest) to help. “Playing Lara Croft is one of the most challenging roles I’ve ever undertaken,’ admits Angelina. “I thought at some point, with all the working out, I’d eventually get to where I felt every inch the action hero. But the truth is, it’s hard to snap into ‘Lara’ mode every day, ready to take on the world.”

 
Still, she enjoys the challenge of playing such an atypical heroine, and when the Cradle of Life came along, she was eager to play Croft again to take the character to greater heights. “Lara is not a stereotype in any way, shape or form. She has some mystery about her, and she’s not all wrapped up in herself like a lot of heroines.”

‘Beyond Borders’ (2003)

An epic tale of the turbulent romance between two star-crossed lovers set against the backdrop of the world’s most dangerous hot spots. Angelina stars as Sarah Jordan, an American living in London in 1984. She is married to Henry Bauford, son of a wealthy British industrialist, when she encounters Nick Callahan a renegade doctor, whose impassioned plea for help to support his relief efforts in war-torn Africa moves her deeply. As a result, Sarah embarks upon a journey of discovery that leads to danger, heartbreak and romance in the far corners of the world.

“When I read it,” Angelina reflects, “I just read it to the end and found myself crying by myself in a hotel room and thinking just how beautiful the story of her relationship with her children, with the men in her life, with their love for their children, and just that there are people in the world that are caring about things outside of their own homes.”

‘Taking Lives’ (2004)

From the story’s opening moments, when a body is discovered near a Montreal construction site, it’s clear that this is not a standard murder case. Something about the vicious and ritualistic nature of the crime indicates to local police director Hugo Leclair that he may be dealing with a serial killer, and that prompts him to call on Special Agent Illeana Scott, an FBI profiler, for help. It’s not that he doesn’t trust his own detectives to solve the case; it’s just that tracking such monsters is Agent Scott’s specialty. And if her methods seem a bit peculiar to his staff, so what? What better way to catch an unconventional criminal?

As Scott, Angelina is first seen onscreen lying flat on her back in a freshly opened grave. From this macabre perspective, she then emerges with a number of specific and accurate details, not only about the grave’s former occupant but about the man who put him there.

There is an element of vulnerability that especially appealed to Angelina, who notes that, “often in films you see the woman from the FBI and she’s cool and tough, never a hesitation. But this woman isn’t like that. She’s strong and intelligent but also very human. She’s flawed. There are secrets in her past. She is a profiler and is therefore extremely sensitive. I did a lot of research on profilers and the work they do, and I find there’s something very sensual about them. They watch everything from the way people move their hands and feet to what they say and why they do things in a specific manner. They’re acute observers, which makes this a very interesting part to play.”

‘Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow’ (2004)

When gigantic robots attack New York City, “Sky Captain” (Jude Law) uses his private air force to fight them off. His ex-girlfriend, reporter Polly Perkins (Gwyneth Paltrow), has been investigating the recent disappearance of prominent scientists. Suspecting a link between the global robot attacks and missing men, Sky Captain and Polly decide to work together. They fly to the Himalayas in pursuit of the mysterious Dr. Totenkopf (Laurence Olivier), the mastermind behind the robots.

“I hope the audience took away a great spirit of adventure and fun and friendship and loyalty and all that that the old classic films did,” Angelina, who had a small but important role as Commander Francesca “Franky” Cook, says. “I just think it’s done beautifully with all the newest technology, but using it to make something new as oppose to using to cheat something or save something. They really did as much as they possibly could that was out there to create something beautiful and new.”

‘Alexander’ (2004)

Alexander (Colin Farrell), the King of Macedonia and one of the greatest army leaders in the history of warfare, conquers much of the known world. Angelina plays the part of Queen Olympias.

‘Mr. & Mrs. Smith’ (2005)

John and Jane Smith are an ordinary suburban couple with an ordinary, lifeless suburban marriage. But each is hiding something the other would kill to know: Mr. and Mrs. Smith are actually highly paid, incredibly efficient assassins, and they work for competing organizations. Mr. and Mrs. Smith discover a new source of excitement in their marriage, when they’re hired to assassinate each other … and that’s when the real fun starts. The result is the ultimate action spectacle, as Mr. and Mrs. Smith put their formidable skills to work and their marriage to the ultimate test.

Angelina loved the film’s multiple tones. “There are dramatic scenes about relationship issues,” she notes, “and huge action sequences and fight scenes that push the envelope, and also there is real comedy. It’s a great balance and it’s perfect because it’s just like real life and marriage.”

She also found several parallels with her on-screen alter ego. “I’m very much like Jane. I learned something about myself through playing her. It’s important for women to feel that they can be strong on their own, but it’s great to be involved with a film where a man and a woman need each other and are better when they’re together. There’s something great about people functioning as a team that movies haven’t focused on in a while.”

‘The Good Shepherd’ (2006)

The untold story of the birth of the CIA viewed through the life of a man who believed in America, and would sacrifice everything he loved to protect it, is told in this epic drama. For Angelina, this was a very different spy film from Mr. & Mrs. Smith.

“Yes, sadly I don’t get to be one in this film — I’m the sad housewife,” she told IndieLondon. “It was different and it was hard not playing with the boys. And it was hard to be that kind of a woman. There was a certain repression at that time, and playing a woman like that was hard for me.”

‘A Mighty Heart’ (2007)

Mariane Pearl (Angelina), the wife of journalist Daniel Pearl (Dan Futterman) of The Wall Street Journal, heads to Pakistan after terrorists capture her husband. In the terrifying weeks that follow, she must cope with international attention and find her way through the dangerous world of underground politics in a desperate effort to find him.

“Mariane has suffered the ugliest side of all that is going on in the world today and came out of it believing we cannot just be angry and blinded by hate, but must continue to have a dialogue,” says Angelina. “If I don’t represent her right, and people don’t see what a beautiful, strong, open-minded, loving woman she is, then I’ve done a disservice and hurt a really great woman.”

She understood the potential for risk, and for reward. “We talked about the risks before we started filming, the security concerns and what it would mean politically if we got it wrong. We could anger more people and make it worse,” she says. “But if by some small chance we get it right, maybe we can do a little something towards bringing people back together, or at least looking at each other in another light.”

‘Beowulf’ (2007)

In the age of heroes comes the mightiest warrior of them all, Beowulf. After destroying the overpowering demon Grendel, he incurs the undying wrath of the beast’s ruthlessly seductive mother, who will use any means possible to ensure revenge. The ensuing epic battle resonates throughout the ages, immortalizing the name of Beowulf.

Grendel’s mom, naturally, is a demon as well, and for Angelina to play her, she had to do so using motion capture technology (think of Gollum from Lord of the Rings, Caesar from the Planet of the Apes films or Thanos from the Marvel movies). “I loved it,” she enthuses. “At first I thought, ‘Oh, this is going to be so weird, all of us actors with these dots on our faces, in these wetsuit-type costumes, with no props or sets’ … but what it really does is strip everything down to the essentials of performing, especially in the scenes between Crispin Glover and me — they were just pure amazing emotion. There is so much freedom to just be everything, in the moment, give it your all, because it’s being covered completely and you can overlap and you can play and you can improvise. There’s also an immediate friendship between the actors. When you’re both covered in dots, you become very close and you rely on each other. What’s also great about the process was that it felt like every single crew member was integral to it and equally in the moment with the actors. It’s not like we were hanging out in our trailers and would come in and do a scene from time to time, everyone was in it, every second.”

The character’s actions, Angelina points out, are beyond good and evil, driven by a profound maternal instinct. “Yes, she’s a monster, but she’s also a mom and that’s the essence behind everything she does. Grendel is like a full-grown man but there’s something vulnerable and childlike about him. I thought about her as a mother. If someone hurts your son, you would go to the ends of the earth to avenge him. So, I approached it that way.”

‘Wanted’ (2008)

Wesley Gibson (James McAvoy) is an office worker whose life is going nowhere. After his estranged father is murdered, he meets Fox (Angelina), who recruits him into the Fraternity, a secret society of assassins which takes its orders from Fate itself. Fox and Sloan (Morgan Freeman), the Fraternity’s leader, teach Wesley to tap into dormant powers. Though he enjoys his newfound abilities, he begins to suspect that there is more to the Fraternity than meets the eye.

“She’s an assassin,” says Angelina of her character, “but the idea of the Fraternity is that if we knew in advance that there are people who are going to be hurting many other people, could we and should we take them out? She believes, yes. And that’s her job. So it’s not just that she kills people, she kills people that she believes are bad, so it gives me the freedom to kill them easily.”

‘Changeling’ (2008)

In 1928 Los Angeles, single mother Christine Collins (Angelina) arrives home to find her son, Walter, gone. Five months later her prayers are answered when Walter is found in Illinois. But to Christine’s horror, the boy who steps off the train is not her son. Authorities vehemently dispute Christine’s claim, and her one ally is a clergyman (John Malkovich) who sees the case as his chance to expose corruption in the Los Angeles Police Department and government.

Reflects Angelina to IndieLondon, “It was a very hard film for all of us to make, but at the same time, because it was a true story, and because this woman went through so much, it was also very inspiring.”

As was working with director Clint Eastwood. “I’d always wanted to work with him, because I loved his work, but I’d also read a few things, or seen different things, and he just seemed like such an interesting man.  In person, he’s a really good man. He’s very solid, very strong and has a great crew. He’s very fair and a strong leader. He’s just a really great director.”

‘Salt’ (2010)

When Evelyn Salt (Angelina Jolie) became a CIA officer, she swore an oath to duty, honor and country. But, when a defector accuses her of being a Russian spy, Salt’s oath is put to the test. Now a fugitive, Salt must use every skill gained from years of training and experience to evade capture, but the more she tries to prove her innocence, the more guilty she seems.

“She is an incredibly strong woman,” says Angelina, who adds she had the opportunity to meet with several women from the Agency. “We met women who were in the CIA with men, and they were tough. They were extraordinary women who appeared soft and sweet like somebody’s mom. I could relate to that, but they were just as tough as a Jason Bourne or James Bond. They are extraordinarily strong women. And there are women in the army right now, who are across the world fighting wars. And there’s no question to me about a woman who has the ability, but that it hasn’t been shown on film in this way. It was certainly an exciting challenge for me to take on.”

‘The Tourist’ (2010)

Angelina plays Elise Clifton Ward, a beautiful and mysterious woman involved in a romantic relationship with the wanted thief Alexander Pearce (Johnny Depp), but keeps her true motivations close to the vest. “She’s instructed by Alexander to take a train from Paris to Venice, and while on the train find a man — someone of Alexander’s height and build — and throws him into this adventure.

“My character in this film is different than any other film. [Director Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck] gave me very specific direction. My natural modern rhythm is quicker and harder. At the beginning of the shoot, Florian’s note to me was to slow down, as Elise lives in a world of quiet luxury and elegance.”

‘Maleficent’ (2014)

As a beautiful young woman of pure heart, Maleficent (Angelina Jolie) has an idyllic life in a forest kingdom. When an invading army threatens the land, Maleficent rises up to become its fiercest protector. However, a terrible betrayal hardens her heart and twists her into a creature bent on revenge. She engages in an epic battle with the invading king’s successor, then curses his newborn daughter, Aurora — realizing only later that the child holds the key to peace in the kingdom.

“I loved Maleficent when I was a little girl,” says Angelina. “She was my favorite Disney character. I was afraid of her and I loved her. I was really moved by the script from first reading. It was like uncovering a great mystery. We all know the story of Sleeping Beauty and we all know Maleficent and what happened at the christening, because we’ve all grown up with that. But what we’ve never known is, what happened before?”

Maleficent is a complex character with many layers; she is driven by revenge yet she fiercely protects the land she loves and all who dwell there. Speaking of the character and what she would like audiences to take away, Angelina notes, “I hope the girls, especially, will see the importance of having a sense of justice and a sense of what’s fair and what’s worth fighting for. They’ll see that they can be warriors and at the same time soft and feminine and deeply feeling, with all the complexities women have.”

‘By the Sea’ (2015)

In nutshell, a troubled American couple (Brad Pitt, Angelina) befriend young newlyweds and local villagers while staying at French seaside resort. As Angelina related to Today of reuniting on screen with Brad Pitt, “To be honest, I wanted to work with him because we had met working together and we worked together well. Even though it was a challenging role, we’d matured. And, I wanted us to do some serious work together. … I thought it could be a good way for us to communicate.

“In some ways it was, and in some ways we learned some things,” she continued. “But there was a heaviness probably during that situation that carried on and it wasn’t because of the film.”

‘Maleficent: Mistress of Evil’ (2019)

A formidable queen causes a rift between Maleficent and Princess Aurora. Together, they must face new allies and enemies in a bid to protect the magical lands which they share.

Look for this sequel on October 18. And look for much more from Angelina in the years to come.