E ONLINE! INTERVIEWS ANGELINA JOLIE
Copyright 2001 www.eonline.com

[ June 13th 2001 ]

You might think Angelina Jolie was born to play curvaceous videogame siren Lara Croft, but the Oscar-winning actress wouldn't agree with you. Jolie says she didn't know anything about being sexy until she met her husband, Billy Bob Thornton. Now she feels like a natural woman, and then some. Jolie celebrated a birthday June 4, and so far, 26 is looking like a good year. She has two major films coming out this summer--Lara Croft: Tomb Raider and Original Sin--and her marriage to Thornton just keeps getting better. Here, Jolie talks about blood bonding with Billy Bob, why she needed a little support to play Ms. Croft--and her astonishment at finally feeling settled in her life.

E Online! : "What did you know about Lara Croft before taking the role ?"

Angelina Jolie: "Jonny [Lee Miller], my first husband, used to play the videogame. I tried, but I'd get frustrated. I could never get her over the wall, so I would just throw things. I was aware of it, and I knew all the campy jokes, all the shots that people would take at her. I'd say, "Oh, that's ridiculous. How is she possibly jumping with that chest?""

E Online! : "Her breasts are the stuff of legends. How did it feel stepping into her bra ?"

Angelina Jolie: "It's amazing how fascinated people are with breasts. She's Lara Croft, you know what I mean? Batman has his shit. It's part of her character. I'll make it real simple: I'm a 36C. In the game, she's a 36DD. In the movie, she's a 36D. "So, we split the difference and made her more athletic. My waist is much bigger than hers. She's, like, a 24, and I'm a 28. Her hips are very curvaceous; mine are more boyish. So, with me playing her, she's much more athletic and has smaller breasts."

E Online! : "I doubt anyone will complain."

Angelina Jolie: "Padded bras work wonders..."

E Online! : "After playing more intense characters in movies such as Girl, Interrupted and Gia, was it fun playing an action hero ?"

Angelina Jolie: "Actually, it was one of the most difficult films I've ever done. Sometimes it's easier to put a lot of layers on and be crazy, be dark. It's hard to step up front and center and have a really clean presence and let little moments tell an entire personality"

E Online! : "Were there people telling you not to take the role ?"

Angelina Jolie: "Everybody did! There's this idea that if you're an Oscar winner, you should take yourself seriously. And that's stupid. You should do what you feel like doing. Nobody should ever take themselves seriously. Period."

E Online! : "What did Billy Bob think about his wife playing Lara Croft ?"

Angelina Jolie: "He thought it was great having [his] wife stronger and trying things and feeling kind of wild. But that's always how we are. "

E Online! : "So, he has no problem with you being this huge sex symbol now ?"

Angelina Jolie: "It's funny. I'm very much a normal person. I have good days and bad days. I'm awkward; I'm very human; there's nothing special or different about me. But somehow, they've decided that I'm the one--this big sex symbol. You can't take it seriously. "

E Online! : "How, then, does a normal, awkward, human girl play a part like this ?"

Angelina Jolie: "You know, I feel sexier than I've ever felt in my life, because I'm free, and I'm in love, and I'm sexually satisfied. I didn't really understand what sexy was a few years ago. Now Billy has really helped me discover what it really is to feel like a woman."

E Online! : "Could you have played Lara if you hadn't met Billy ?"

Angelina Jolie: "Absolutely not. I wouldn't have had the confidence. It takes a lot of confidence to be this character. I'd be the first person to jump into a dangerous situation to try something, but it took Billy to make me feel very alive and very sexy."

E Online! : "Your next movie, Original Sin, has several steamy love scenes with Antonio Banderas. Was that another Billy-inspired film ?"

Angelina Jolie: "Original Sin happened when Billy and I were finally coming together. That movie is very much about balancing your dark side and your light side and finding somebody to love you for who you are. It's all about love and desperation and passion. So, parts of it were my life and the very end, finding that love, was very much me."

E Online! : "You recently said that if Billy were a woman, you'd be a lesbian."

Angelina Jolie: "No matter what package Billy came in, he'd be Billy, and I'd love him. I got real lucky. He's the sexiest man I've ever seen in my life. He's physically everything I desire, which is kind of amazing, because he's the soul I'm in love with."

E Online! : "What is it about him that floats your boat ?"

Angelina Jolie: "There's something about his body, his skin. When I first met him, I really did walk into a wall. He was just so breathtaking and charming, and he's a really good person. I was just so happy somebody like him existed. You don't have that feeling often in life when you say, "Thank you, God." "

E Online! : "And now you wear his blood around your neck in an amulet. How did you guys come up with that idea ?"

Angelina Jolie: "Like a lot of couples, you always talk about how much in love with each other you are, and you can't think of enough ways to devour each other and take each other. And blood is your life. "So many times, I have just wanted to drink every part of him. So, we had written things in blood on the walls over our bed, and at Christmastime, I had bought these amulets that were supposed to be for pressed flowers. We just cut our fingers and gave some to each other, and we've worn them ever since. "

E Online! : "You said you didn't like your last action movie, Gone in Sixty Seconds--but then, you didn't expect to like it. Did you expect to dislike Tomb Raider as well ?"

Angelina Jolie: "I didn't know what to expect with this one. I knew there'd probably be things I'd be embarrassed by. We tried a lot of things, and I figured some of them wouldn't work or would be over the top. I just saw it last night, and it was hard to watch. It was just me to me, you know? "Sometimes I play characters who are nothing like me, and here it was just me laughing and fighting and jumping around. So, it's hard to say how I feel. But I'm usually a harsh judge, and I didn't hate it. "

E Online! : "Lara is tempted to mess with time so she can undo a past mistake. Any mistakes you'd like to undo ?"

Angelina Jolie: "Not a thing. If you ever regret something, then you'll start to hesitate in life, thinking, If I do this, I'll regret it. You can't ever regret. You can't do anything about it. You can't plan your future out because you want to make safe choices so you'll never worry about regret. "The only thing I can think of is maybe telling people you love them more, but I've always done that. I haven't wasted time. I've never not been me, and I've never lied to anybody or hurt anybody really or been dishonest about my intentions. "

E Online! : "Did winning an Oscar change your life ?"

Angelina Jolie: "There was so much change in my life at that time. The Oscar is one of those things that means studios will be more comfortable hiring me. People think of you less as a wild card. You think, Okay, maybe I'll get another job. You always have that insecurity as an actor."

E Online! : "What do you remember most about that night ?"

Angelina Jolie: "I remember all I wanted to do was go find Billy. And that's what that night was about. It was the only weekend I had in L.A. He was at the Sunset Marquis with his kids. I went to see him, and they were asleep, and he came out for five minutes outside the room. He was in his pajamas, and I was in my dress, and we just sat and talked about everything except the Oscar. "My whole life was about the fact that I'd fallen in love, so anything could have happened that night at that awards ceremony, and I would have been happy."

E Online! : "You've been working ever since you were married last May. Do you ever aspire to be a homebody ?"

Angelina Jolie: "We do want to spend more time at home. But part of it is always going to be funny. We both just always figured we'd be alone, that we weren't the kind of people who could have a home. So, it's like we're two aliens discovering what it is to be in a kitchen and what an apron or a spatula is. "These things become bizarre to you because you're happy as a couple, and it's just great to be real people. I never expected to have a life. I never thought I'd be at all grounded or settled. And I have a lot of warmth and love in my life right now."