She is an Oscar winner who has starred in blockbusters and revered films alike.
But Angelina Jolie insists she fell into acting to help her late mother Marcheline Bertrand pay the bills.
The 42-year-old – arguably one of the world’s most famous actresses – admits she has never truly been comfortable in front of the camera – despite being the child of two performers.
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Not planned: Angelina Jolie insists she fell into acting to help her late mother Marcheline Bertrand (above) pay the bills
Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter, she said: ‘There’s a lot that’s not in my nature to be an actor.
‘I’m very happy that I was able to be one – I’m very lucky and very fortunate – but I realised how much it was for my mother when she passed away, because I felt very differently about it as soon as she was gone.
‘I think, when I started acting, it was a good means to an end. It was a job, and I wanted to help my mom with bills. It was a creative job, something where you get to explore different times in history, different people, different sides of yourself, learn different skills, so it’s a wonderful job to have as you grow and as you learn as a person. But you also are not those people.’
Not ready for her close up: The 42-year-old – arguably one of the world’s most famous actresses – admits she has never truly been comfortable in front of the camera – despite being the child of two performers
Hitmaker: The actress is behind a series of successful franchies; including her biggest smash to date Maleficent, (above), which pulled in over $500million in 2014
Unsure: Angelina admits she struggled with the fame that came with her career and even had second thoughts about continuing after her Oscar win for Girl, Interrupted in 2000
Angelina admits she struggled with the fame that came with her career, adding, ‘You’re young and you don’t know exactly who you are, yet you also get a microphone in front of your face, and you’re 17, 18, and people are asking you your opinions, and you haven’t formed them yet.’
She briefly turned her back on acting in the late 1990s to study at New York University, stating, ‘I was ready to kind of have a different life… I’d done what everybody said you should do – become an actor. This is what should make you happy, right…? I was miserable. I was completely unhappy.’
Then came her Oscars Best Supporting Actress win for Girl, Interrupted – but that success didn’t change her mind about acting.
Jolie has since also discovered a love for directing, and after a string of hits, including her latest film, First They Killed My Father, which is set in Cambodia.
Future: Jolie has since also discovered a love for directing and oversaw By The Sea with her estranged husband Brad Pitt (above)
