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Birth name

Angelina Jolie Voight

Nickname

Angie
Catwoman

Height

5' 8"

 

Angelina Jolie is intrigue. The gaze of her eyes command attention, and the twinkle they hide cause everyone who sees Jolie to look harder. There are very few actors who match her beauty - it is entirely unique. There are very few actors who match her intrigue - from her starring roles down to the smallest roles she's performed, audiences wonder 'Who's that girl?'. There are very few actors who match her controversey - her speech at the Oscars thanking her brother launched rumors abound of their "romantic involvement." But most importantly, there are very few actors who match Angelina Jolie's raw talent. Three Golden Globes, one Oscar, and she's not even thirty yet.

Angelina Jolie comes from a family rich with acting and fame. Jon Voight is her father and actress Marcheline Bertrand is her mother. Despite the acting blood that flowed through her, Angelina's lifelong goal was to be a funeral director. But, by the time Angelina was 11, she had realized that acting was right up her alley, too. She enrolled and began studying at the Lee Stratsberg Theater Institute.

By age 16, Angelina moved out on her own and began modeling. She grabbed a few spots, and also had parts in music videos, most notably the Rolling Stones. She began film studies at the New York University (also where Adam Sandler had just graduated). She soon gave up on school and began working with the Met Theatre Group in Los Angeles. Angelina was not yet certain that acting was what she wanted out of life, but she definitely thought it sparked an interest. "I loved some kind of expression ... I'm very good at trying to explore different emotions and listen to people and feel things. That is an actor, I think."

By 1993, Angelina had decided to pursue acting full time. A forgetable first role in Cyborg II: Glass Shadow followed, but soon thereafter Angelina nabbed a role in Hackers, alongside Matthew Lillard and Jonny Lee Miller. The film got good reviews for Angelina, but incredibly bad reviews for the film. Regardless, Angelina got her first husband. She and Jonny Lee hit it off, and they married soon after. The wedding had Angelina wearing leather pants and a white t-shirt with her husband's name written in blood on her back. But, blood apparently wasn't thicker than water. Within a year, the two were separated, but their divorce wasn't finalized until 2000.

A slew of underappreciated and impressive roles followed, most notably in the Joyce Carol Oates adaptation of Foxfire, a film about females rising up to the taunts and repression of their peers.

But then came George Wallace. Gary Sinise played a large role in the film which received a great deal of critical acclaim, as did Angelina. A Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actress and an Emmy nomination later, and Angelina was suddenly the talk of the town. But it was her starring role in HBO's Gia (based on the life of model Gia Carangi) that skyrocketed her to success. The film was a huge hit, both with audiences and critics alike. Another Golden Globe, this for Best Actress, followed, as well as another Emmy nomination.

Pushing Tin, The Bone Collector, and Playing By Heart followed each receiving mixed reviews, but all coming back with one thing in common : Angelina was excellent. She carried both Pushing Tin and The Bone Collector, and her and Ryan Phillippe were simply captivating in Playing By Heart. But, it was Girl, Interrupted, a film that was supposed to relaunch Winona Ryder, that in fact catapulted Angelina into superstardom. She won an Oscar, stole the film out from under Winona, and was quickly established as the actress in Hollywood.

But with fame, also comes the scrutiny of the public eye. Her devotion to her brother lead to ludicrous rumors of romantic involvement which undermined everything beautiful about her relationship with her brother (James Haven). Then, she married actor Billy Bob Thorton (formerly involved with Laura Dern) after an alleged mental institution stay.

Regardless, there are very few actors who command the attention, respect, and awe of entire audiences. Angelina is an actress for the ages, and personal problems or not, one of the most interesting and real actors in Hollywood.