I’ve been waiting for the anti-Angelina Jolie people to point out the super-obvious conspiracy theory that Angelina clearly only had her ovaries removed because Unbroken is coming out on DVD this week. Totally. Or, you know, she had a legitimate cancer scare and decided to undergo the surgery she had been planning on doing for the past two years. In any case, yes, Unbroken is out on DVD now. To promote the release, Angelina sat down with Elle to talk about the film, directing, Louis Zamperini, and how it’s not enough to just be informed of all of the bad sh-t happening in the world. Some highlights:
She’d rather direct than act: “I prefer directing to acting. There is huge freedom that comes from being behind the camera. It brings a lot of responsibilities as well, but is intensely rewarding. Particularly the chance to help draw out the best in young actors, like Jack O’Connell in Unbroken, who is a remarkable talent.”
Whether she wishes she could redo some scenes: “I tend not to look back and dwell on a project once it is finished. But I do remember how intense the atmosphere was on-set filming some of the tougher scenes [such as] when Louie is being brutalized. It was very moving how always, after those scenes, the actors involved would check [and make sure that] everyone was okay and look out for each other.”
The lessons from Louie’s story: “Like many of the greatest human stories, it is about the capacity of regular men and women to rise above adversity. It reminds us never to give up, and that having the spirit to fight is what really matters. It is powerful because it speaks to the potential inside all of us…I do believe in the old saying ‘What does not kill you makes you stronger.’ Our experiences, good and bad, make us who we are. By overcoming difficulties, we gain strength and maturity.”
If she could redirect the nature of news/gossip: “It is not really the nature of the news, but what we do with the information we have. We know more than ever before in history about conflict and injustice happening across the world, but the will to translate that knowledge into pressure and action at a global level somehow seems to be lacking. Time and again, after massacres and atrocities, the world says, ‘never again.’ But in Syria today, to take just one example, these things are happening with impunity in the full knowledge of the world. We need a greater focus on solutions—not just on information.”
Can I just say? I appreciate Angelina so much for never taking a pot-shot even when she’s been handed a golden opportunity. No, Angelina will not trash-talk the mainstream media or the gossip media. No, she will not make some kind of roundabout statement that is ultimately self-serving to her image as a celebrity. She’s not playing that game. Instead, she reminds us all that it’s not just about awareness and knowledge… it’s about gaming out solutions to these complicated problems.
As for the Unbroken DVD… I saw Unbroken in the theater and while I would love to support Angelina, I’m not going to buy the DVD. It was a really sad movie and there were script and editing issues. Save your money for the Selma DVD (God, Selma was such an incredible movie).
Photos courtesy of Fame/Flynet and Getty.
I love Angelina. But I watched Unbroken this weekend and it was…not good. I think she needs to take on some smaller projects and work on her directing skills.
Agreed. I don’t want to fault her ambition–that’s great–but so is taking the time to develop your skills and work your way up to bigger projects.
I thought the first hour of Unbroken was good filmmaking and a good movie. The final hour was bogged down by too many torture sequences and failed to add much depth to the prisoner-of-war scenes. The movie focused on the wrong things but I don’t think it’s nearly as bad as many people would have you believe.
I think Jolie shows great promise as a director, she just needs to work out the kinks.
You are right. It wasn’t a good movie no matter what her fans say. It was not worthy of any Oscars and this movie just down right sucked.
I’m buying Unbroken.. just as I buy all my JP movies. I liked Selma.. and will probably buy it too.
She gets more tabloid media coverage than many. yet she doesn’t make it her battle cry. just do your thing and live your life. Best FU to it all.
I run a newscast and totally get what she’s saying. Everybody pushed me on camera, which now I’m used to, but I enjoy producing and running the show. I like being a leader and pulling the best out of my team.
Ugh she is such a class act. I want her to adopt me too!
If I could redirect the news I’d make it less repetitive. The networks call it a 24 hour news cycle but on any given day it seems more like a ten minute news cycle on a continuos loop, making it feel less like news and more like a form of indoctrination.
Exactly!
I work in news and I HATE the “24 hour news cycle”. Breaking news means nothing now. It’s not a big deal because it’s used on CNN all day. My coworkers get annoyed because we keep CNN on in the newsroom, and I’m always yelling “breaking news? That happened hours ago!!!!!” If it’s that important of a story, say “here’s what we know, but we don’t have new info” and move on.
I like all her answers a lot, she always has been a great interview. As for her directing career though, while I think it’s admirable that she has not let the underwhelming reviews for her first 2 movies deter her, I prefer her in front of the camera. Neither of her movies really worked for me beyond being ‘admirable’ in that the story was being told. Although she doesn’t have that many movies I would qualify as being great in her acting filmography either, and I have seen all of them. But at least SHE is always a wonderful presence, even if the movie itself isn’t the best. Actually, thinking about it, I think she could potentially be a good director if she would get better at reading and choosing scripts to work with. That’s something that has hindered her in her acting career as well. She should get Brad to help her, even. He is quite good at it and his filmography is far stronger than hers for it.
Just backing up what you said about Brad’s taste in scripts. Brad Pitt is not as good an actor as Angelina Jolie imo, but what he has is a sensibility about what makes good projects and what doesn’t. All of his projects in the past 10 years (Inglorious Basterds, WWZ, 12 Years a Slave, Fury) were all good-to-great films, I think. They didn’t all get the same critical attention but some did and I personally thought they were each very very strong. Brad’s performance was often the least memorable thing in them (except for Fury) but the films were strong. He is a great producer. He knows a good script and can assemble a great team around it or at least not get in the way of the people that can do a great job with it.
I get so used to seeing pictures of her face I just think, oh, yeah, Angie, whatever. Then sometimes I take a step back and realize how fricken beautiful she is! Breathtaking.
I’m so impressed with her – articulate, diplomatic, involved, caring AND beautiful. Wow, just wow.
Yes, Angelina has come out as a person who has taken the challenges of her life, and turned them into wisdom.
I also prefer her in front of the camera but as a fan I just wish her the best in pursuing her passions. She remains an incredible person.
We already have the bluray- hubby went & got it last week (it actually came out 3/24). It has a ton of great extras and I really like the ones I’ve seen ( he’s watched them all!). I think she did a fantastic job directing- MUCH better than several of the BP nominated films, but Angelina always gets gratuitous, completely illogical hate for everything she does. Too bad she couldn’t have released it anonymously to stop that- It’s amazing she keeps trying and that is an inspiration in itself. Having read the book and seen several Louis Zamperini interviews, it is beautiful that someone FINALLY told his story after so many years, another reason Angelina should be getting a ton of kudos. Like so many Brad & Angelina films, people keep trying to rewrite history and say it was a flop, but three Oscar nominations and excellent box office is far better than 99% of most films does or will ever do.
Yeah, I’m not understanding the hate for her directing. I’m not saying that she is the greatest director ever, but I think she’s good, and maybe that’s all she will be (her aerial scenes were AMAZING in “Unbroken”). Not every director is Steven Spielberg, Martin Scorcesse, etc. The directors that make perfectly good, but not great movies, does that mean they shouldn’t make movies? Especially in a time when there is a distinct lack of female directors, producers, writers, and/or female centered roles and films. Not saying you have to LOVE everything Angelina does, but I just find it odd.
+10000. Well said VC.
I agree on a lot of what you said.. She does get so much unfair attacks..
I wouldn’t say she gets loads of unfair attacks. Most of the criticisms I’ve seen of her directing have seemed fair enough to me. I like her as an actress but not at all as a director, she’s OK, but nothing special,.
its not ‘hate’ to say that she didnt deserve to get all the awards and oscar nominations for what the critical consensus has deemed a subpar movie. I’m a big fan actually. I just think she needs to be a little more savvy about the quality of what she attaches her name to. Thats a skill she never developed for some reason.
Quality of her choices? Nearly all the actors (boys, too) would KILL to have her filmography to say nothing of her box office- even after YEARS away from the big screen, she made nearly $1 billion for Disney & Universal. As a women, I really appreciate her non victim, non male prop choice in roles- SO MUCH better than so many. SO groundbreaking…an Oscar winner leading an action film? Again, she was mocked, but now they all TRY it. Salt got my youngest girl so excited after being endlessly subjected to Superman/Batman from by her brother. Despite people constantly trying to diminish like nobody ever (except maybe Obama), she keeps plugging along- many times in service of others. Youngest winner of the Jean H Oscar EVER- don’t see anyone topping that anytime soon.
@really
You dont need to tell me what AJ’s accomplishments are. As a longtime fan, I have seen all her movies and I know what awards she recieved. But I’m not so blinded by devotion to her that I can’t admit that her filmography is spotty at best, certainly not as good as that of people on her level of industry respect like Blanchett, Dicaprio, Clooney, Moore, Pitt. Out of all her movies (producing, directing, and acting included), only 4 maybe 5 of them are what I would describe as ‘great movies’ (a mighty heart, girl interrupted, changeling, gia- i enjoy salt but i dont consider it a great movie though i understand why someone would). That isnt a very impressive ratio. As for the box office comment- I am speaking of quality of the project, not money. Everyone knows what a big and popular star she is.
Unbroken was an ok film and no she did not deserve any Oscar nominations. However, I thought it was great for someone just starting out. I do get where some of the people on here are coming from. It just seems like this woman can never do anything right. People think everything she does is for PR including her children, her getting the chicken pox, her directing projects, and her surgeries. Also, there are people that want to see her fail. I just sit back and read the gossip sites and this is what I’ve gotten from many when it comes to this actress. She’s damned either way.
Agree. Can’t believe people who thinks she was ‘snubbed’ and think this movie is a great piece of art. Its more like a fart. Angelina is a good actress and humantarian, but not a good director sorry. She didn’t deserve any Oscars for that film. Not everyone is talented in everything. I am fearful of By the Sea, considering how her first 2 films weren’t that great.
ITAWY on this.. Brad makes great choices. I really love how he keeps mixing it up. Rarely doing the same things over and over. Another reason I’m so glad he never went the Super Hero route. Frees you to not get stagnate in a role. Which happens all too often to many of the male actors. That transitions back to other movies.. sometimes fails big time.
I just love her. She’s such a great role model for women and mothers. She’s shown that you don’t have to sell out to pursue a passion. she’s pushed aside her natural beauty and focused on more important things. always kick-ass! 🙂
I love that coat…….
After years watching movies (that’s just as far as my knowledge goes), I just gotta say that, if I ever had to choose between being an actress or a director, I’d be a director. The actor can explore just as much as the director allows, and that’s too restrictive. I hope she inspires more women to take this path as well.
I’ve been getting a lot more interested in the directing/producing side…..well, by that I mean instead of wasting time watching youtube videos with actors, I like watching different directors–describing their process, talking about their movies, etc. It’s really cool.
on youtube, i’m currently obsessed with Every Frame a Painting, it’s a channel by this film editor exploring how each film frame is set up. i first got hooked on the channel when i was binge-watching Jackie Chan’s outtakes. EFaP did a great job dissecting the composition and set up of Jackie Chan’s films and why his brand of action-comedy is very hard to replicate in Hollywood.
I don’t like sad/serious movies so I won’t watch unbroken but I do admire AJ for pursuimg her passion and all the goodwork she does internationally.
Here’s what I think about the criticism that everything she does is carefully planned and timed to maximize exposure of her film projects: so what?
Her charity work comes from a place of genuine compassion and knowledge about the issues, and it directly improves many lives. Her public disclosure of private health matters comes from a desire to spread awareness and lengthen strangers’ lifespans. Her relationship with her husband and kids is real and endearing, and it clearly gives her strength and purpose.
Even if she ONLY discusses these things or appears with her family when she has a movie coming out (which isn’t true anyway)… they’re still real and important parts of her life. She doesn’t even have a publicist, so her impeccable timing isn’t some big conspiracy. It’s just evidence that she’s a seasoned celebrity, and she knows how to get people’s attention.
If anything, I would say the opposite: she releases certain information before movie releases because she knows her profile is higher during those times. She knows her message will reach a bigger audience.
You’ve said it all. I have nothing but the sincerest admiration for Angelina.
Nope, I’m buying unbroken but I probably won’t buy Selma. The whole fam preferred unbroken.
It almost feels like people think she has too much already so she can’t possibly have a good career in directing too…too late. Unbroken did fairly well so I’m guessing she’s going full steam ahead with ….DIRECTING.
I’m gonna lmao when people praise the hell outta the movie she did with Brad simply because Brad is in it just like every movie he’s in. Critics and fans have blind adoration for everything he does. If Brad had directed unbroken he’d have all the kudos.
If both critics and fans generally enjoy his projects, then maybe they arent the ones ‘blinded’ here, when it comes to his work. not that you have to like everything he does, i am a big fan and i certainly dont, but it seems only logical to say that if so many seem to agree then there is something about his acting or producing or whatever that people respond positively to beyond mere delusion?
Not when even a pos like world war Z gets almost a 70% on Rt and a movie like killing them softly gets raves from the critics but an F cinemascore from the audience. Something ain’t adding up. The raves will be rolling in for by the sea whether it’s good or not. That’s what happens when you have the top publicist and agents in Hollywood like Brad Pitt does.
@NK868 I agree I saw a black n white pic. Of her yesterday on Twitter n I had to comment …..She took my breath away
Posters on this site really love this woman, huh?