Angelina Jolie Enchants New York At ‘Changeling’ Premiere

Festival Centerpiece Screening of Changeling, Ziegfeld Theatre, New York. ©Patrick McMullan. Photo JIMI CELESTE/patrickmcmulan.com

Dressed in a delicate beige Jenni Kayne sweater, black cashmere Polo Ralph trousers and a gold Bulgari watch, Angelina Jolie looked absolutely ravishing as she spoke with La Repubblica yesterday in New York, where she had arrived for the premiere of her latest film, Changeling.

‘We’re all still jetlagged because we arrived last night from Berlin!’ she exclaims (the family has moved to Berlin, where Brad is currently working on his next movie, directed by Quentin Tarantino, Inglorious Bastards). ‘So at 4:30 this morning, everyone started waking up. Brad told me to go back to sleep, and that he would have taken care of everything. He tried, but from the room next door I could hear nothing but chaos!(she laughs) Poor thing, they must have driven him mad!Brad is an excellent father.’

Changeling, directed by Clint Eastwood, is a thriller based on an actual tragedy which occurred in Los Angeles in the 1930’s. Christine Collins (Jolie) was unjustly locked up in a psychiatric hospital for having tried to defy the highly corrupt police who was investigating the case of her kidnapped son. The film had been presented at the last Cannes Film Festival, and is set to be released in the States on 31 October.

‘When I first read the script, I didn’t want to do it because I didn’t want to touch anything which had to do with child kidnapping, which is my greatest fear. I live in the fear that something will happen to my children. But then I told the story to Brad, and the more I talked about it and the more I thought about all that this woman must have gone through, I couldn’t get her out my mind. When I accepted, it nevertheless was very difficult for me, and I kept hugging my children, I always wanted them on set with me, I wanted to know what they were doing every single minute. But everyone knew that I would have reacted this way and that I would have cried so much every time I went back home, and so I was cuddled by everyone!’

Do you think your fame interferes with your acting?
I wouldn’t know. What I do know is that I really fought to obtain my role in this film. And it was very important for me to let the production team know that if they would have chosen me they would have had an actress on set, not a celebrity.

In a certain sense, you are a great American icon who, by choice, left the States and is raising her children across the world, away from America. Were these choices taken because of what happens in this country?
No, I am proud of being American, all of my children have an American passport; but we are a melting pot of many nations as are my children, and I expect them to grow up in this way, because this is what it means to be American for me. After all, my children were all born in other countries, they are Asian, African and are proud of it, despite having American parents. Now I am very happy of living in Berlin, there is always a lot to do, especially for the little ones, it is an ideal place for families!

Six years ago you were here in New York proudly carrying little Maddox in your arms. Now you have six children and you have become one of the most famous mothers in the world. Do you miss those days?
I would like to have a little more freedom, especially to be able to do normal things with my children, but I feel so blessed every day of my life when I wake up every morning next to my favourite people in the world, the cutest, and to my closest friend, this family so big and noisy…I certainly don’t feel isolated. I hope that as the children grow up we will be able to move further away the public scrutiny. And then I live with Brad, who has dealt a lot with isolation, so we share our burdens together (she laughs) and we try to transform them into constant fun. We are grateful for the life we have. Of course I would love to walk the streets of Manhattan and buy hotdogs for my children like my mom used to do with me. But I can’t.

What are the joys and difficulties of having twins in addition to four other children?
It’s beautiful, they are so fun!It’s a lot of hard work, and we are always exhausted, it’s twice the effort but also twice the fun, and thankfully Brad and I have taken plenty of time off work to be together. We organize ourselves so as to be able to adapt work to our family, the children study at home…so each one receives his healthy dose of attention from us!

Do you also find time for yourselves?
That is the hardest part, trying to find some time to be alone. Even when we close our bedroom door they come and knock straight away. Often at the end of the evening, after having put everyone to bed, we go into the bathroom to talk, and as soon as they hear the sound of water running they all run in because they want to jump into the bath with us! But it’s fun, Know and Viv (the twins) are the cutest things in the world, they do nothing but smile. Once you have three of four children, having six isn’t really that different, it’s chaos anyway!

So you don’t intend to stop?
No! (laughs)

Are you thinking of going back to work?
I’m considering to start working on a film in February. By then, almost a year and a half will have passed since the last time I was on a set, and Brad says that acting is part of me, we are all doing well, the twins will be older and will be able to come on set.

A while ago there were rumours that you were thinking of working for John McCain’s campaign. Is that still true?
To be honest, I still haven’t decided who to vote for. Like everyone I hope to see something really incredible happen to this county, I am worried about how we will emerge from this economic crisis, I ask myself if the parties will unite to make things work. I could throw stones and say bad things, but I don’t know what we could gain out of that. There are many things about Joe Biden which I very much like, I was very happy to hear him speak so well during the debate, he is a very intelligent man but I listen to everyone and I think that’s important to do.