Angelina Jolie on family and resilience
FOR THE FIRST TIME, ANGELINA JOLIE HAS BECOME THE FACE OF A FRAGRANCE. SHE TALKS TO RED, EXCLUSIVELY, ABOUT MOTHERHOOD, NOSTALGIA AND HANDLING THE HARD TIMES »
The actress, mother and activist opens up about handling hard times
Ilast interviewed Angelina Jolie a few months before her wedding to Brad Pitt. She sat poised and elegant, her back arrowstraight, her eyes glistening with pride as she talked about her children and her career: feature films she was starring in, scripts she was going to direct and her long-standing humanitarian work in Africa and beyond. Those famous lips were pouted ever-so-slightly, and erupted into a smile when I asked about her then-fiancé, someone she described as her “best friend” and a “great man”.
Three years on, and I’m in touch with Jolie once again, fresh from the announcement that she is the face of Guerlain’s new fragrance, Mon Guerlain – her first beauty endorsement, and one she soon tells me is incredibly personal to her. And what a three years it has been. In addition to the fragrance campaign, Jolie has directed three critically-lauded films – By The Sea, Unbroken and First They Killed My Father – while her passion for that other great role, being mother to Maddox, 15, Pax, 13, Zahara, 12, Shiloh, 10, and twins Knox and Vivienne, eight, is unwavering. “It’s the most exciting thing to watch them become the unique individuals that they are,” she tells me, from her home in LA.
THE FACT THAT GUERLAIN IS A FRENCH BRAND WAS ONE OF THE REASONS JOLIE
AGREED TO PARTNER UP. She’s spent a lot of time in the country, and filmed herself and Pitt there in By The Sea. But Guerlain is particularly personal to her because it was the brand of perfume worn by her beloved mother, Marcheline Bertrand (she favoured Shalimar), and is synonymous with Jolie’s own childhood. “Guerlain spoke to my mother, as it does to me, of beauty, history and quality,” says Jolie. “I don’t like perfumes that are too strong or sweet; I like a fragrance that is earthy and sensual and can be worn at any time.” Mon Guerlain, which, with its notes of lavender, vanilla and sandalwood, is a nod to one of the most offbeat but beautiful Guerlain scents of all time, Jicky, ticks these boxes, but it’s the integrity of the brand that’s important, too. “As I talked to Guerlain about their ethos and the artistry they devote to the making of the perfume, and the way they work in communities, sourcing their ingredients, the pieces came together and I felt we were a match.” Far from being just another actress fronting just another campaign, Jolie researched their commitment to sustainable development before agreeing to work with them. “I was impressed by their strong sense of responsibility towards the communities they work with and towards the environment,” she adds.
Jolie has recently turned 42, so I ask her what life advice she wished she’d had when entering adulthood that she would most like to pass onto her children. “That if your intentions are pure, the battle is half won,” she replies. “That things will change shape, and there will be highs and lows. But know yourself and be kind to others, and you will be able to weather the storms.” It’s a typically insightful and philosophical soundbite from Jolie (I’ve yet to watch an interview where her answers aren’t considered and articulate). But it’s hard not to think just how much this perspective means to her now, more than ever. Because while her career has flourished in the three years since our last meeting, her marriage… less so. Last September, Jolie and Pitt announced their plans to divorce. It was a revelation that left fans stunned, even more so when rumours prevailed that there had been an altercation between their son Maddox and Pitt during a flight, and that Jolie was battling for full custody of the children. Soon after my exchange with Jolie, Pitt admitted in a no-holds-barred interview in
GQ Style to alcohol abuse issues, and to seeking therapy. Jolie is yet to respond. Her only public comment on their split was in February: “We are a family and we will
always be a family and we will get through this time and hopefully be a stronger family for it.”
Unsurprisingly, questions about Jolie’s marriage are off the table today. Our interview is stringently monitored. Yet, tellingly, most answers lead back to her children. “They are raised as equals, but also to value diversity,” she says when I ask her to delve further into the values she tries to instill in them, and the challenges of motherhood. “I’m getting into teens now and am really learning the importance of not always responding with what I know and what I think, of having a lot of patience and listening. It’s important to guide and set an example, but to leave them a lot of room to find their own path, as well.”
Jolie adopted her first child, Maddox, from Cambodia in 2002, when he was seven months old. It was his own story that inspired Jolie’s forthcoming drama, First They Killed My Father, based on the biographical historical thriller of the same name. “It’s the story of my son’s country, so it could not be more important or more personal to me,” she tells me. “It’s also my way of thanking a country and a people who have taught me so much about resilience and strength and family.” What’s more, Maddox had a creative input in the film, and Jolie proudly describes how he “sat in on board meetings and gave me notes”. In 2005, she adopted daughter Zahara from Ethiopia and a year later, she gave birth to her daughter Shiloh. Pax was adopted from Vietnam in 2007 and twins Knox and Vivienne were born in Nice in 2008. “France is a country that I love and feel connected to and spend time in,” she says. It also happens to be where she and Pitt married, in August 2014, almost a decade after filming
Mr & Mrs Smith, and where Jolie directed them both in By The Sea, a perceptive drama about a crumbling marriage.
Conversation leads to beauty and femininity, the latter something that Jolie describes as, “Personal to every woman. So many women I know are so completely different from each other. My daughters are. There is no simple description. It’s that mystery and diversity that’s so wonderful. But I suppose you could say femininity is that softer side of ourselves, that we all like to indulge at times.” Does Jolie get time to indulge in beauty regimens and treatments? “I try my best,” she says. “But with six children and my work, I don’t have much time for myself! And, like most mothers, I’m not the priority in my household!” Instead, she keeps it simple, with “rich oils over creams that work for my skin type”.
AS SOMEONE WHO CLEARLY HAS A HUGE AMOUNT ON HER PLATE, I ask what it takes for Jolie to say ‘yes’ to a project. “Part of it is time and location, as it’s a decision affecting our children and where they will be,” she says. “We home-school, which helps with moving around, but they’re all older now and have opinions about where they spend months at a time. Really, I look for films that I feel I can learn something from. But that can be as simple, though, as learning to laugh again.” The films she has directed are the ones she feels proudest of “because it’s a difficult job that I love and take seriously, and they’re always about subject matters I feel need discussion. My kids say First They Killed My Father is my best film. And the people of Cambodia received it well, so I feel a sense of relief, and am pleased it seems to have made a difference.”
Jolie remains resolutely passionate about her humanitarian work, tirelessly campaigning for women’s rights and the rights of immigrant and vulnerable children in both the US and developing nations. After years of dedicated service to the UN Refugee Service, she was appointed an expanded role of Special Envoy in 2012. “I don’t see the roles of mother, actor, director, humanitarian as separate,” she muses. “Somehow they all feed each other. I am fortunate as many mothers do not have the ability to also have a creative outlet. My mother didn’t. It’s a joy to be an artist, but it doesn’t mean very much unless that work is useful in some way and contributes to others.”
Angelina Jolie’s life may be very different to how it was three years ago. Then she wasn’t even married; now she is approaching divorce. But whatever pitfalls may encroach on her personal life, devoted and loyal mother, creative artist and passionate activist she will always be. So I guess some things never change.
Angelina Jolie is the face of Mon Guerlain, available nationwide
I don’t see the roles of mother, actor, director, HUMANITARIAN as separate. Somehow they all FEED each other