Many celebrities have stipulations of taboo topics they won’t talk about in interviews. It’s understandable that there would be things that they would prefer not to get rehashed in the press, especially considering the ridiculous stories that get spread about them. Angelina Jolie has been doing the press circuit in the UK for Changeling, and among her interview requirements is the stipulation that journalists not bring up her partner’s ex wife, Jennifer Aniston. It’s usually media courtesy not to reveal the things interview subjects prefer not to talk about, but Grazia Magazine was all too happy to drop this tidbit. Grazia is a bit skeptical of Angelina, and the tone comes through clearly in their write up of this exclusive interview. Maybe they realized that she only gave them quotes she already told Hello, which were published by the competition over two weeks before they spoke to the actress.
Grazia translates some of Angelina’s words to Brit-speak, as is common with UK publications, but they definitely bill this as a one-on-one interview and say they met her at a “suite at Claridge’s.”
Grazia says they have been told not to ask about Jennifer Aniston
[Angelina Jolie] has recently spoken of wanting to retire from acting altogether, a job she has referred to as ‘therapy’ in the past. ‘I’m balanced, I’m alright now,’ she smiles, when the subject of her ‘retirement’ comes up. ‘I needed acting to help me express things, but now I’m learning a lot from being a mum. I need film less.’ She certainly seems ‘alright’ during our interview. Perhaps that’s because she knows we have been specifically asked not to ask any Jen-based questions. Hmmm. While the thorny subject goes untouched, Angelina relaxes into being interviewed and her barriers appear to come down. When asked who she draws on for the character of Christine Collins, Angelina immediately cerdits her mother, Marcheline, who passed away last year. Almost as soon as she mentions her name, telling an anecdote about how sweet and gentle her mother was, Angelina wells up. She pauses, trying to gather herself together, but it is clearly an emotional subject for her, and the tears are quick to flow. It is strange to see a public figure suddenly so vulnerable, and yet at the same time, almost a releief to know that Angelina Jolie is human. ‘I live at home with six kids, and I’m a mum,’ she tells me, when later I ask her about living her life so publicly. ‘That’s what I live with every day. But my job is to be here. It’s a strange thing. When I was pregnant at Cannes this year, everyone there was asking what the babies were going to be called. But I was like every mum, just sitting there hoping that they would be healthy and, being twins, that they wouldn’t be born prematurely. It’s odd.’
[From Grazia, print edition, December 1, 2008, subheaders added]
As a person who can’t help but get teary eyed at certain subjects, I completely understand how Angelina would cry every time she talks about her mom. Ceilidh covered this earlier today, and I agree with her that it’s too cynical to criticize Jolie for crying over her mother every time she brings her up. She’s mentioned her mother and has cried in several interviews. That doesn’t mean she’s any less sincere. She definitely has her talking points, though, and while Grazia has some sort-of unique quotes from Jolie they’re not all that different from what she’s said in other interviews.
Tells a cute story about getting all the kids up to watch TV
‘We’re having a lot of fun with the kids,’ she smiles. ‘I am very, very lucky. I have healthy children and a great partner and we are having such a wonderful time raising our kids together. There is a lot of love in our home. The other day, we all had terrible jet lag and we put the kids to bed, but then one woke up, and then another, so we got them all up, turned on the TV, made snacks and we were all up ’til 4am, laughing our heads off.
The boys play with the twins and the girls dress them up
‘I don’t know how we’ve managed to do it, but there’s the right balance. They’ve all got each other an [sic], because of that, they’re not really jealous. The girls dress the babies up and the boys want to play with them. They’re lovely.’
Maddox is learning karate
‘They’re like every kid; they think their parents are OK, not too cool. Mad saw me do a carwheel the other day and went, “Mum!” I was like, “I’m pretty capable man, I can do some things!” He’s learning how to do karate, and he’s trying to teach Me how to punch,’ she laughs.
On feeding the twins
‘Every child is unique, and to have two at the same time has been hard, but it is twice as much fun, especially as we’re both there. We’ll hold one each, doing bottles at the same time.’
On being known as ‘Brangelina’
Does it ever feel like her life as ‘Brangelina’ gets in the way of being taken seriously? ‘I suppose I have felt like that,’ she admits. ‘But you can’t focus on it. I have to believe that if I do my work and get into character enough, then people will watch the story. And I don’t really have a thought either way on being known as “Brangelina”.’
[From Grazia, print edition, December 1, 2008, subheaders added]
Angelina is really promoting her film overseas, and there are only so many things she can talk about, so she’s bound to repeat stories and talk about the same subjects. I’m kind of surprised that Grazia would reveal her pre-interview requirements as it seems a little rude and could jeopardize their ability to get celebrity interviews in the future. It make sense that Jolie wouldn’t want to talk about Aniston because that subject is brought up enough without either of them mentioning it – which one of them recently did.
Thanks to my husband for bringing Grazia back from his business trip.
Angelina Jolie is shown out in London with Brad Pitt on 11/17/08 and at the Kung Fu Panda Premiere on 11/9/08. Credit: Bauergriffin and PRPhotos
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