OlderAngelina Jolie Interview by Ann Curry
Angelina Jolie sits down with NBC News’ Ann Curry to talk about A Mighty Heart, her extensive humanitarian work, Brad Pitt and their four children, and the recent death of her mother, Marcheline Bertrand.
The interview will air on The Today Show @ 7AM ET/PT and Dateline NBC @ 10PM ET/PT Wednesday, May 23.
So if I asked you, for example, right now — what’s something that’s untrue that you would like to say right now is not true… you wouldn’t know what was untrue that was written about you? No.
Nothing? No. I mean, I can assume. I know there’s a cycle of certain things that they keep rewriting or whatever, but I can assume things are made up. But no, I haven’t a clue. (laughter) And why would I, you know? There’s nothing I have to hide or defend. You know, I’m gonna live my life. And there are gonna be times when people wanna try to attack me and I don’t know why, but they will. And that’s okay.
It’s okay? Well, there are other things I’m more concerned about. My kids are healthy. I have a lot I want to do in this world. Before I do, I wanna do a lot of things as a woman, as a mom, and that’s my focus. At the end of the day, I’m gonna be dead… and what people say about me is gonna be what I accomplished and what I did in my life and how my children are.
Is there anything you’d like to say to people listening now because you now have an unedited audience here — an unedited opportunity — to give people to unvarnished truth about who you are and what you stand for. Is there anything that you want to say about yourself? No. I mean… I have always been honest about who I am, and I’ve always been very outspoken to press. I think people have heard a lot from me (laughter) over the years. And - and you do hear more, you know?… People wanna believe negative things, they will. And I can’t help that.
Bigger picture and more interview excerpts inside…
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Jolie on her role as Mariane Pearl
It’s interesting. I was reading that you were actually six months pregnant when you first talked to Mariane. I was six months pregnant and –
But that helped you empathize? But it [did]. It was also a very interesting thing because for as much as I was kind of waddling around and feeling the heat, I couldn’t help but look over at this woman and think, “God, she is where I’m at now and I’m having — and not just the physical thing of being pregnant and, oh, that’s difficult. And I have this man with me who’s helping me through this and loves me.”
And it’s a joyous moment. And we’re about to now also have a baby, and we’re gonna look at this baby together across the room at each other. And it’s all those things that make that so much more. And to not just physically be thinking, “God, how is this woman physically dealing with trying to maintain her strength and take care of this baby that’s inside of her, working so hard and having so much emotional stress?”
But on top of it, what that took away from her. What that took away from this time in their life, this is the happiest time in their life. And what that must be. I just can’t imagine. I thought about that when I was breastfeeding. I thought about that all through kind of the birth of, you know, that haunted me and when I was sitting here quiet, I would think, “God, just a few months after, what is that like? What is that like?”
To play her was not easy. To play her at this time of her life was not easy. I’ve played real people before, but I never knew them. And, you’d think that would be easier. (laughs) I did. But the day before we started shooting, I had hardly slept and I was in a panic. I had gotten to know her and I’d gotten to know their son. And the thought that he would see this one day… It was my responsibility to not just show the world but also show him how much his mother loved his father and how much they loved each other and how they handled this time.
It was something that haunted me through the whole thing and haunted, I think, everybody involved. Nobody ever really voiced that and nobody really talked about it, but I’m sure it was something that she did become a friend.
So how do you play [that role?]- I’m sure if somebody said to you, “Your great girlfriend has gone through the most horrible thing in her life. Why don’t you stand up and show us what she went through and how it felt?”
———–
In a separate interview, Brad Pitt talks to Curry about his behind-the-scenes role as a producer on “A Mighty Heart,” which is produced by his Plan B shingle in conjunction with Revolution films. Dede Gardner and Andrew Eaton, two producers of the movie, also join Pitt in the interview. Pitt also discusses his global charity work with Jolie.
Brad Pitt, on his humanitarian work with Jolie and what people can do to help:The thing is just generating the will to understand. And that means focusing on certain events. Because it’s not all coming across our airwaves… and really investigating if something doesn’t feel right.
Generally, I would say it’s just not enough anymore to say that “it’s entertainment and enjoyment.” For me personally I’m saying, in my life, if you can move the ball forward a little bit… that’s what this is about. Where is it going to go? The interesting thing is how it evolves for me individually for myself, and watching the same with Angie. But where’s it gonna go? I’m not gonna stop.
We can have our things. And that is just getting your hands dirty, rolling up your sleeves a little bit and seeing where it takes you. And where it can, where you can best help. Where you’d be most effective. But there’s a lot of studying do.
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291 Comments
angelina is so cute i just love her with her big gorgeous lips she reminds me of myself thats why i love her. i love her humanitarian work at least shes not vamping around half naked and looking goofy like some others. she gets my vote anytime jennifer anniston get over it and get on with your friends life.
274
isitreallythatserious? Says:
May 22nd, 2007 at 5:42 pm - flag comment
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yes i know thats why i said dont get me wrong and no one lives forever and no one looks young forever i dont get you i just said what i think
From an Indian newspaper.
Daniel Pearl’s widow Mariane holds their son Adam as she arrives with Angelina Jolie for the premiere of A Mighty Heart in Cannes. (AP)
Amit Roy, the London correspondent of The Telegraph, was in Cannes on Monday during the world premiere of A Mighty Heart, a film on the kidnapping and beheading in Karachi of Daniel Pearl, The Wall Street Journal reporter based in Mumbai. Roy’s own documentary on Pearl, The Journalist and the Jihadi, made with London-based Ahmed Jamal as director, and much assistance from Delhi-based filmmaker Ramesh Sharma, has now been broadcast widely by HBO in the US.Roy’s account from Cannes:
While Jamal and I were travelling round the US doing our interviews, we were reduced to tears on two occasions: once, when we were with Mariane, and then when Daniel’s parents, Judea and Ruth Pearl, spoke to us of their reaction after they had learnt not only of the murder of their son but the circumstances of his death.
Today, there was a moment when the tears returned after one scene — and it is a tour de force.
When Angelina Jolie learns that her husband was not coming back, she rushes into her bedroom, bangs the door shut and lets out scream after scream.
I don’t think that I was the only one among the 2,500 journalists whose blood turned cold. What Mariane must have felt when she relived that moment!
Back in 1994, I was probably the first journalist to report that a public school educated British youth, Omar Sheikh, then 21, had been picked up over a botched kidnapping just outside Delhi.
Now fast forward 13 years.In the most glamorous day so far this year at Cannes, Angelina and Brad Pitt appeared together at a news conference after the world premiere of A Mighty Heart, a film shot substantially in India over a five-week period. Alongside Angelina was Mariane Pearl, whom she plays in the film.
Among other cast members on the panel was Irrfan Khan, in a role that could not be more different than the soft-spoken Bengali professor in Mira Nair’s The Namesake.
This time, he is cast as the Captain, the head of the Karachi CID, who is gentle with Mariane and, in fact, builds a trusting relationship with her but thinks nothing of torturing a Pakistani suspect in his efforts to extract intelligence about the missing American reporter. By common consent, Irrfan is utterly convincing.
Also present today was Archie Panjabi, a British-Indian actress who plays Asra Nomani, whose family emigrated from India to the US and who, in time, became a colleague of Daniel on the Journal.
The film’s director, Michael Winterbottom, who enjoys a justly high reputation in his native Britain, sat between Mariane and Angelina.
Mariane, a woman of exceptional goodness, is a valued friend, as is Archie. Jamal gave whatever help he could during the shooting of A Mighty Heart and even had a cameo role in the movie. Omar, who has been sentenced to death for the kidnapping, is now in a prison in Pakistan though all the indications are that President Musharraf does not want to go ahead with the execution.Omar was one of three released by India in exchange for the passengers of the hijacked Indian Airlines plane in 1999. A couple of years later, Omar, who was allowed to operate freely in Pakistan, had Daniel kidnapped and a week later the journalist was beheaded. His assassins added a touch of the macabre by videoing the act of decapitation and releasing it as a further act ofterror.
On balance, I would say that although the main protagonist, played wonderfully by Aly Khan, comes from a Pakistani fundamentalist background, the film avoids being anti-Pakistani. That is a considerable achievement. Nor is it anti-Islamic in any sense. However, Omar’s arrogance as a public school-educated boy shows through as well as his understated menace.
The notion that the kidnapping was an Indian plot done to embarrass Pakistan – the suggestion is put by a Pakistani minister – is examined and dismissed. So is speculation that Asra, because of her Indian origins, is an agent from India.
Some of the happier flashback scenes, when Mariane and Daniel, were enjoying the early days of their marriage in India – he had just been sent there by his paper as bureau chief for the region – were shot in India. Viewers will recognise the backdrop of the Taj Mahal Hotel and the Gateway of India as the couple take a little cruise in the Arabian Sea.
For the Karachi scenes in our documentary, Jamal went to Pakistan and shot the actual house in which the Pearls and Asra had stayed at the time of the kidnapping. Whoever did the location hunting for A Mighty Heart did marvellously well in finding a Pune residence which so closely resembles the Karachi property.
Another point I should make is that I know Mariane very well and whoever did make-up and styling has produced a startling lookalike. At today’s media conference, Mariane looked, well, like herself, but Angelina reverted to her own hairstyle and made sure she did not resemble the person whom she plays in the film.
The Daniel Pearl story is one of those tragedies that has left a scar on American consciousness. So, it is understandable that most of the questions today were from American journalists – several were “mother and making babies” type queries directed at Angelina.
One Indian journalist asked Angelina about the “security issues” that had dogged the shoot in India – a reference to the trouble caused by her bodyguards. She replied curtly that she had focused on the film because that had been the most important issue.
When I dealt with Mariane, I found she was always straight. Once she gave her word, she never went back. And, today, too, she was, as usual, refreshingly honest. How did Angelina get the role, she was asked. “I asked her to play it,” she said.
She had been reading a magazine and found she was moved by something Angelina had said. The two met and the role was Angelina’s. “‘Please do it,’” said Mariane. “‘You are the only person I know who can do it.’ I trusted her. She understood me. I am very fortunate she did it.”
Mariane was just over five months pregnant when her husband was taken. Angelina was about six months pregnant when serious discussions took place with Mariane.
“We have a lot different but a lot in common,” said Angelina. “I highly doubt there is anybody in this room who has more reason to hold hate inside herself than Mariane, and she doesn’t. That is, I think, a lesson for all of us.”
She admitted: “I was very, very nervous to get it right, but worked very, very hard to try. I did finally speak to her (Mariane) days after she saw it, and she told me it was all right. For her to tell me that she felt it was done right, I can’t tell you how much that means to me.”
How did Mariane feel now? Again, her honesty was moving. “I miss my husband,” she said. The film had not been made for money, added Mariane. “Everybody is doing it for the right reasons.”
Her deeper feelings about the film, which she saw a week ago and endorsed, were still very complex. But today she said she was aware her son, Adam, born a few weeks after Daniel’s death, would one day see the film about his father whom he would only know through the filter of history.
Pitt explained his own emotions: “We were very taken with Mariane’s story.”
He was impressed that although Mariane had reason to be filled with bitterness, she had gone out of her way to stress that at the time Daniel died, 10 others, all Pakistanis, had also lost their lives in Karachi.
Winterbottom said: “We tried to keep the story simple.”
Irrfan spoke highly of Winterbottom: “What I liked about him is that he was not instructing us but just following and letting us do what we wanted to do.”
With Pitt producing and Angelina in the starring role, A Mighty Heart is certain to do well at the American box office.
Pitt observed: “Everyone involved, of course, felt a great responsibility. We are very happy that the film maintained some of the dignity of Mariane and Daniel themselves.”
Daniel Pearl’s widow Mariane holds their son Adam as she arrives with Angelina Jolie for the premiere of A Mighty Heart in Cannes. (AP)
Amit Roy, the London correspondent of The Telegraph, was in Cannes on Monday during the world premiere of A Mighty Heart, a film on the kidnapping and beheading in Karachi of Daniel Pearl, The Wall Street Journal reporter based in Mumbai. Roy’s own documentary on Pearl, The Journalist and the Jihadi, made with London-based Ahmed Jamal as director, and much assistance from Delhi-based filmmaker Ramesh Sharma, has now been broadcast widely by HBO in the US.Roy’s account from Cannes:
While Jamal and I were travelling round the US doing our interviews, we were reduced to tears on two occasions: once, when we were with Mariane, and then when Daniel’s parents, Judea and Ruth Pearl, spoke to us of their reaction after they had learnt not only of the murder of their son but the circumstances of his death.
Today, there was a moment when the tears returned after one scene — and it is a tour de force.
When Angelina Jolie learns that her husband was not coming back, she rushes into her bedroom, bangs the door shut and lets out scream after scream.
I don’t think that I was the only one among the 2,500 journalists whose blood turned cold. What Mariane must have felt when she relived that moment!
Back in 1994, I was probably the first journalist to report that a public school educated British youth, Omar Sheikh, then 21, had been picked up over a botched kidnapping just outside Delhi.
Now fast forward 13 years.In the most glamorous day so far this year at Cannes, Angelina and Brad Pitt appeared together at a news conference after the world premiere of A Mighty Heart, a film shot substantially in India over a five-week period. Alongside Angelina was Mariane Pearl, whom she plays in the film.
Among other cast members on the panel was Irrfan Khan, in a role that could not be more different than the soft-spoken Bengali professor in Mira Nair’s The Namesake.
This time, he is cast as the Captain, the head of the Karachi CID, who is gentle with Mariane and, in fact, builds a trusting relationship with her but thinks nothing of torturing a Pakistani suspect in his efforts to extract intelligence about the missing American reporter. By common consent, Irrfan is utterly convincing.
Also present today was Archie Panjabi, a British-Indian actress who plays Asra Nomani, whose family emigrated from India to the US and who, in time, became a colleague of Daniel on the Journal.
The film’s director, Michael Winterbottom, who enjoys a justly high reputation in his native Britain, sat between Mariane and Angelina.
Mariane, a woman of exceptional goodness, is a valued friend, as is Archie. Jamal gave whatever help he could during the shooting of A Mighty Heart and even had a cameo role in the movie. Omar, who has been sentenced to death for the kidnapping, is now in a prison in Pakistan though all the indications are that President Musharraf does not want to go ahead with the execution.Omar was one of three released by India in exchange for the passengers of the hijacked Indian Airlines plane in 1999. A couple of years later, Omar, who was allowed to operate freely in Pakistan, had Daniel kidnapped and a week later the journalist was beheaded. His assassins added a touch of the macabre by videoing the act of decapitation and releasing it as a further act ofterror.
On balance, I would say that although the main protagonist, played wonderfully by Aly Khan, comes from a Pakistani fundamentalist background, the film avoids being anti-Pakistani. That is a considerable achievement. Nor is it anti-Islamic in any sense. However, Omar’s arrogance as a public school-educated boy shows through as well as his understated menace.
The notion that the kidnapping was an Indian plot done to embarrass Pakistan – the suggestion is put by a Pakistani minister – is examined and dismissed. So is speculation that Asra, because of her Indian origins, is an agent from India.
Some of the happier flashback scenes, when Mariane and Daniel, were enjoying the early days of their marriage in India – he had just been sent there by his paper as bureau chief for the region – were shot in India. Viewers will recognise the backdrop of the Taj Mahal Hotel and the Gateway of India as the couple take a little cruise in the Arabian Sea.
For the Karachi scenes in our documentary, Jamal went to Pakistan and shot the actual house in which the Pearls and Asra had stayed at the time of the kidnapping. Whoever did the location hunting for A Mighty Heart did marvellously well in finding a Pune residence which so closely resembles the Karachi property.
Another point I should make is that I know Mariane very well and whoever did make-up and styling has produced a startling lookalike. At today’s media conference, Mariane looked, well, like herself, but Angelina reverted to her own hairstyle and made sure she did not resemble the person whom she plays in the film.
The Daniel Pearl story is one of those tragedies that has left a scar on American consciousness. So, it is understandable that most of the questions today were from American journalists – several were “mother and making babies” type queries directed at Angelina.
One Indian journalist asked Angelina about the “security issues” that had dogged the shoot in India – a reference to the trouble caused by her bodyguards. She replied curtly that she had focused on the film because that had been the most important issue.
When I dealt with Mariane, I found she was always straight. Once she gave her word, she never went back. And, today, too, she was, as usual, refreshingly honest. How did Angelina get the role, she was asked. “I asked her to play it,” she said.
She had been reading a magazine and found she was moved by something Angelina had said. The two met and the role was Angelina’s. “‘Please do it,’” said Mariane. “‘You are the only person I know who can do it.’ I trusted her. She understood me. I am very fortunate she did it.”
Mariane was just over five months pregnant when her husband was taken. Angelina was about six months pregnant when serious discussions took place with Mariane.
“We have a lot different but a lot in common,” said Angelina. “I highly doubt there is anybody in this room who has more reason to hold hate inside herself than Mariane, and she doesn’t. That is, I think, a lesson for all of us.”
She admitted: “I was very, very nervous to get it right, but worked very, very hard to try. I did finally speak to her (Mariane) days after she saw it, and she told me it was all right. For her to tell me that she felt it was done right, I can’t tell you how much that means to me.”
How did Mariane feel now? Again, her honesty was moving. “I miss my husband,” she said. The film had not been made for money, added Mariane. “Everybody is doing it for the right reasons.”
Her deeper feelings about the film, which she saw a week ago and endorsed, were still very complex. But today she said she was aware her son, Adam, born a few weeks after Daniel’s death, would one day see the film about his father whom he would only know through the filter of history.
Pitt explained his own emotions: “We were very taken with Mariane’s story.”
He was impressed that although Mariane had reason to be filled with bitterness, she had gone out of her way to stress that at the time Daniel died, 10 others, all Pakistanis, had also lost their lives in Karachi.
Winterbottom said: “We tried to keep the story simple.”
Irrfan spoke highly of Winterbottom: “What I liked about him is that he was not instructing us but just following and letting us do what we wanted to do.”
With Pitt producing and Angelina in the starring role, A Mighty Heart is certain to do well at the American box office.
Pitt observed: “Everyone involved, of course, felt a great responsibility. We are very happy that the film maintained some of the dignity of Mariane and Daniel themselves.”
I’m getting dizzy trying to find out which thread I was on already but no matter. Thanks JJ. Keep up the good work.
I have a comedic side to me. Actually I am a comedian most of the time. In all seriousness, I must say that #270 article really hits home. I remember the entire story surrounding Mr. Pearl and I prayed for his safe return. I am in awe of his wife because I do not have the discipline not to hate if something like that would happen to my husband. Jared, for over 2 years many of us have found your site a place of true joy. Although I am very busy I have to say that I appreciate you hanging in there through it all-
The Story of Danie Pearl, in my opinion, is not about 9/11 or Terroism/ or hate. It is more about love than anything. The love that a man and woman have for each other that reaches beyond the grave and into the hearts and minds of others who never knew either of them. I appreciate Mariane for allowing this story to be told so that we can be stimulated to stop blaming and start doing.
Angelina and Brad separate and together appear to be deeply concerned humans who just want to do whatever they can to affect the world in a positive way-I don’t have to see the film to know that Angie’s acting is on the money-it always is-
Before they were together, I didn’t pay as close attention to certain issues as I do now-thanks-God Bless
Adamn looks like my nepew but darker..so cute!!
Thanks, JJ. You are so awesome.
Reading news about Angie and Brad just makes my day.
Lovin’ every moment of this!!!!!
B&A should be very proud of themselves with this movie….Oscar nomination coming Angie’s way.
Hot careers, great life & a boatload of fans….. Sit back and enjoy the show!
Someone asked me to bring this over from a previous thread…. MEDI! I’m so happy you are okay (and Happy Birthday too) - what a wonderful husband you have to take you for such a trip. I am green with envy.
julia Says:
lol how funny that some people just so desperately want to believe that Brad and Angelina are just friends. Its really quite odd… I mean why?
—————————————————————————–
That my friend is the million dollar question. Is it because they shot for the moon and seem to have hit it? Jealousy? That so much seeming perfection and happiness must be flawed? I look at the two of them and I see the best of what humanity has to offer. An honorable man, who, despite what some may wish to believe waited until his marriage was over to “move on”; a man who is not contented to get his and let the rest of the world get theirs. I see a man who recognizes that he won the lottery genetically and talent wise and wants to share with the world the blessings he has. I see an actor, not content to maintain a youthful facade and keep playing the “hero”; but one who has thought about his role, and decided to put his money where his mouth is and produce fine films. I see a woman, also genetically blessed, from an acting family, who inherited her parent’s talent. Not content to rest on her laurels or go shopping at the latest “in” store, but who wants to make a real difference in the world and has the money to do so. I see the woman a young lady has grown into. A young lady who told her truth whatever it was at the time. Maybe that’s it? Angie has just always been herself….and that self was not what the “minivan majority” (about as real as the moral majority imho) wanted in a heroine. Maybe someone so “real” shouldn’t “win the prince”….but isn’t that EXACTLY what alll the fairy tales said? Cinderella was most valued, despite her rags and soot!
I don’t think I ever saw Brad Pitt as in love as I’ve seen him lately (except, perhaps at his wedding-and I think that was more about the hope of family). Angie too - true love isn’t about bragging about “doing it” in the limo on the way over, or hanging onto the loved one so much that the hanger is more accessory than person. True love is getting up with the kids so your partner can sleep on a busy day; being extremely proud of the others’ accomplishment. (am I the only one who thought that Brad going “classic Hollywood” was a tribute to Angie and the film?)
I’m sure they have not so wonderful days, just like the rest of us, but we don’t see that, and maybe some people just can’t stand the comparison of Brad and Angie’s “perfect” life to their own. Brad AND Angie held the bar high, and each met the other’s - they didn’t just jump into bed on the first date; they knew each other for a year or more….
When does this air???!??! I want to see it!! I totally adore these two couple!!!
IM LOVING HER SO MUCH! SPECIALY HER HAIR.
Woody Allen once said that all he cared about on the business side of making movies was for his films to make at least one dollar profit because then he knew he could make another one.
Some movies are precious little gems that live forever in their maker’s hearts. Some are made for profit and forgotten with the next project. I think first and formost “A Mighty Heart” is a labour of love. These types of films with their difficult subject matter rarely become box office successes. But I have a feeling Angie, Brad and Marrianne have already decided their film is a success and will be treasured for the rest of their lives. And I also have a feeling they will get their dollar back….. with interest.
blah/blah/blah…If Angelina is talking, she’s probably lying…………………………….
Not going to watch the movie but rather will read the book. I have no high regard for Jolie and it would be too distracting to separate her falseness in reality than absorbed the inspiration and the lessons the story might have.
I hate Ann Curry!! Her voice is so fakely empathic. After every story airs she changes her voice into this awgul softess that makes you want to gag. Shut up!!! Keep with headline news so she can’t add her awful personality into the mix. She is just so terrible.
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