Jolie’s Lara is turned on by anyone who will fight with her
the interview. a harassed assistant director tries to whisk her away. but she politely resists and talks up a storm.
It‘s hard to tell whether Jolie's glowing tan is movie make-up or the legacy of location shooting at the ancient temple complex of Angkor War in the steamy jungles of (‘ambodia or on the bright. chilly glaciers of Iceland. Iiither way. she is a bundle of healthy energy. her bee- .s'ting lips working overtime. .\'ot in the pukka. linen-crisp English accent she was using to play the aristocratic Lady Croft. but in her fast- forward Californian drawl.
Inevitably'. Jolie feels the weight of expectation that came with playing a character who. since Eidos Interactive released the first Tum/2 Rllf(/(’I' computer game in 1996. has become a world-wide fantasy figure for boys and an ass-kicking role model for girls. 'It was a lot of pressure] she says. 'but I like Lara and I‘m having fun as her. All the things people find attractive about Lara are the same things I lind attractive in women. She‘s independent. she‘s full of lire. she's got a real strong sense of fun and adventure and she‘s not afraid of anything.’
Yet despite Lara‘s tough action woman persona. Jolie wanted to retain her character femininity. ‘I think the great thing is that‘s she's all woman. She‘s sensitive. she‘s curvy and she's not trying to be a man. She‘s feminine rather than
‘She’s all woman. She’s sensitive, she’s curvy and she’s not trying to be a man.’
feminist. She‘s not fighting the boys because they're boy‘s. she‘ll light anybody.‘
She‘s adamant. too. that Lara's relationship with the film's villain. Manfred Powell (Scotland‘s Iain (ilen). has no sexual overtones. Lara's combative flirtatiousness. the fiercely competitive Jolie insists. is merely an acknowledgement that Powell is a worthy adversary. ‘For Lara. anybody that challenges her is attractive] she says. Anybody that wants to fight with her. play chess with her or compete with her. that's what turns her on. So it‘s just that he‘s a good enemy: it's a good light. so it's exciting. But it‘s not about sleeping with anybody? .
The 26-year-old Jolie is married to fellow actor Billy Bob Thornton whom she met while filming Pushing 'I'in. She believes strongly in family and they‘re close. real close. She has a Billy Bob tattoo on her arm and they 've thought about welding together their respective ()scars (his for Sling/21min hers for (iirl. IIIN’I'I'll/Ht’lll. as a symbol of their eternal love. Although her parents separated when she was young. Jolie remains close to her mother. Marceline Bertrand. who is also her manager. and is now reconciled with her father. actor Jon Voight. who left them when Angelina was just one year old. In an intriguing piece of casting. it is \"oight who plays Lara Croft's father.
When we first see Lara. she is still mourning the death of her beloved father and mentor. Lord Croft. Her discovery of a mysterious ticking time-piece sets in motion a globe-trotting quest that brings her into conflict with her father's arch enemy. Powell. and a secret organisation known as the Illuminati. Both sides are trying to unravel
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