ANGELINA JOLIE IS LADY LARA
Copyright 2001 www.tombraiderchronicles.com Reuters

[ June 14th 2001 ]

Reuters, the online information carrier, scores this report on the casting decisions presented to Tomb Raider director Simon West who helms the motion picture Paramount Pictures hopes will reach it's summit this summer:

It seems like a match made in heaven -- or deep inside a creepy crypt -- with Hollywood bad girl Angelina Jolie in the role of video game action queen Lara Croft for a movie based on the popular game "Tomb Raider''. Lady Lara, the buxom brunette who sees her wealth and title as only so much boring baggage, loves to blast underworld demons while on one of her many archeological excavations. Jolie, daughter of Oscar-winning actor Jon Voight and an Oscar winner herself, often tweaks Hollywood's sensibilities in the roles she chooses, such as heroin-addicted model Gia Carangi or the wife of former Alabama Gov. George Wallace.

Indeed, in recent interviews to promote the new movie, she said many people advised her against taking the role of Lara because action stars and shoot-em-up movies are not the stuff of dramatic actresses. But Jolie told them to lighten up. She defies social conventions too, as when she jumped in a hotel pool wearing her gown after winning one of her three Golden Globe awards, or the amulet she wears containing the blood of her husband, actor/director Billy Bob Thornton. Combining a feminine figure (more about that later) with an unladylike hair-trigger finger and limber athleticism, Lara Croft has become an icon of video gamers worldwide.

The makers of "Lara Croft: Tomb Raider,'' opening in U.S. theaters this weekend, hope putting the unconventional Jolie in the role will replicate that success at the box office. Thanks to Josh at movieheadlines.net