One of our favourite action stars, Angelina Jolie, turns 40 today and M-Net Movies would like to wish her a very happy birthday.
The daughter of Oscar-winning actor Jon Voight and Marcheline Bertand, who studied with Lee Strasberg, Angelina Jolie was destined for the spotlight from the outset.
Jolie started her career at age 11 when she started studying at the Lee Strasberg Theatre Institute and took to the stage in several productions. Later, she attended New York University in the Film Studies department before joining the renowned Met Theatre Group in Los Angeles. During this time, she also took up modelling and appeared in some music videos.
We first fell in love with Angelina when she appeared in the small movie Hackers alongside future husband, Jonny Lee Miller (Trainspotting, Elementary), whom she married in 1996.
This led to strong roles in the made-for-TV movies True Women and George Wallace, the latter of which won her a Golden Globe Award and an Emmy nomination. Jolie’s acclaim grew further when she played the title role in Gia, the true-life story of supermodel Gia Carangi, garnering her another Golden Globe, Emmy nomination and, additionally, a SAG Award.
Her major break came in 1999 when she played opposite Denzel Washington in The Bone Collector as well as giving a tour de force performance in Girl, Interrupted opposite Winona Ryder. This was certainly Jolie’s year with the awards season netting her a Golden Globe, SAG Award and the Oscar for Best Actress in a Supporting Role.
Interesting Fact:Â Gave her Oscar Statuette, Golden Globes, SAG Awards, and Critics' Choice Award to her mother. She felt she didn't need to hang on to awards.
In 2001, Angelina Jolie starred in Lara Croft: Tomb Raider. Although initially disinterested in the film, the intense training for the athletic role was intriguing and, despite some poor reviews from critics, fans flocked to cinemas to see a buffed up Jolie in action.
While filming in Cambodia, Angelina was touched by the contrast between the natural beauty and poverty of that country. She started visiting refugee camps around the world and was formally appointed as a Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).
Interesting Fact: When asked what she does with the money she makes each year, Jolie replied, “Save one-third, live on one-third an give one-third away.
Jolie’s love life has had in-depth attention from the press with the actress making a habit of marrying her co-stars and expressing her love in the strangest ways. At her wedding to Jonny Lee Miller, she displayed her husband’s name on the back of her shirt painted in her own blood. During her marriage to Pushing Tin co-star, Billy Bob Thornton, the couple each wore a vial of the other’s blood around their necks.
Angelina Jolie eventually married Mr. & Mrs. Smith co-star, Brad Pitt, in 2014. They have six children, three adopted and three conceived naturally.
Interesting Fact:Â Has tattoos of the coordinates representing the birth countries of each of her kids
All we can say is that we’re looking forward to Angelina Jolie’s new projects and can’t wait to see her on the silver screen again soon.
You can watch Angelina Jolie in action in Changeling at 14:10 on Saturday 13 June on M-Net Movies Showcase channel 108.