WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:01.860 Welcome back to the Deep Dive, the place where 00:00:01.860 --> 00:00:04.160 we turn massive stacks of research and biography 00:00:04.160 --> 00:00:07.780 into concentrated, usable knowledge. Today, we 00:00:07.780 --> 00:00:10.759 are undertaking, well, a really deep dive into 00:00:10.759 --> 00:00:13.500 the complex life and career of Angelina Jolie. 00:00:14.199 --> 00:00:16.559 She's a figure whose global influence extends 00:00:16.559 --> 00:00:19.059 so far past the entertainment industry. It's 00:00:19.059 --> 00:00:21.420 an extraordinary file to sift through, really, 00:00:21.539 --> 00:00:25.359 because her life is effectively a series of successful 00:00:25.359 --> 00:00:27.339 and I mean successful transformations. We're 00:00:27.339 --> 00:00:30.559 tracking a trajectory that moves from, you know, 00:00:30.579 --> 00:00:33.840 Hollywood self -described punk outsider and troubled 00:00:33.840 --> 00:00:36.259 young star. The one who openly discussed self 00:00:36.259 --> 00:00:38.640 -harm and substance abuse. Exactly. From that 00:00:38.640 --> 00:00:41.939 to a serious, incredibly effective global diplomat 00:00:41.939 --> 00:00:43.799 and filmmaker. So the narrative mission today 00:00:43.799 --> 00:00:45.759 is pretty critical. We want to untack the strategy 00:00:45.759 --> 00:00:48.770 behind this decades long pivot. How exactly did 00:00:48.770 --> 00:00:50.649 she convert this immense and let's be honest, 00:00:50.770 --> 00:00:53.009 often chaotic celebrity. Oh, absolutely chaotic. 00:00:53.210 --> 00:00:55.450 From her action star persona and the defining 00:00:55.450 --> 00:00:58.570 Brangelina fame into significant political and 00:00:58.570 --> 00:01:01.189 humanitarian influence, earning titles like Special 00:01:01.189 --> 00:01:03.990 Envoy and Honorary Dame Commander. And we have 00:01:03.990 --> 00:01:06.370 sources covering the entirety of her life. I 00:01:06.370 --> 00:01:08.489 mean, the emotional instability of her youth, 00:01:08.609 --> 00:01:11.269 the astronomical success as the world's highest 00:01:11.269 --> 00:01:13.730 paid actress, her disciplined transition into 00:01:13.730 --> 00:01:16.489 directing films about conflict. Her over 40 field 00:01:16.489 --> 00:01:18.450 missions for the. UN, which is just staggering. 00:01:18.650 --> 00:01:21.150 It is. And of course, the astonishing public 00:01:21.150 --> 00:01:23.189 health ripple effect from her personal medical 00:01:23.189 --> 00:01:25.430 decisions, the phenomenon famously known as the 00:01:25.430 --> 00:01:28.349 Angelina effect. So let's look at the mechanisms 00:01:28.349 --> 00:01:31.209 she employed to create really a unique modern 00:01:31.209 --> 00:01:34.030 playbook for leveraging fame. Let's begin where 00:01:34.030 --> 00:01:36.189 the research suggests the trauma and the talent 00:01:36.189 --> 00:01:39.920 both originated. Her early life. Angelina Jolie 00:01:39.920 --> 00:01:43.060 was born Angelina Jolie Voight on June 4th, 1975, 00:01:43.459 --> 00:01:47.159 to two major Hollywood figures, John Voight and 00:01:47.159 --> 00:01:49.280 Marceline Bertrand. But, you know, despite that 00:01:49.280 --> 00:01:52.040 lineage, her start was anything but privileged 00:01:52.040 --> 00:01:53.939 in the traditional sense. That's so right. The 00:01:53.939 --> 00:01:55.879 family connections were certainly deep. I mean, 00:01:55.879 --> 00:01:57.700 her godparents were the legendary Jacqueline 00:01:57.700 --> 00:01:59.680 Bessette and Maximilian Schell. But the family 00:01:59.680 --> 00:02:03.519 structure itself was unstable from the very beginning. 00:02:03.680 --> 00:02:06.079 From day one. Her parents separated in 1976. 00:02:06.400 --> 00:02:09.300 She was just a baby. She and her brother, James 00:02:09.300 --> 00:02:11.860 Haven, were raised by their mother, Marceline, 00:02:11.979 --> 00:02:14.379 who actually made the decision to step away from 00:02:14.379 --> 00:02:16.939 her own acting career entirely just to focus 00:02:16.939 --> 00:02:19.900 on raising them. And this choice, as the sources 00:02:19.900 --> 00:02:22.860 all note, it profoundly shaped Jolie's career 00:02:22.860 --> 00:02:26.139 motivation. Her desire to act wasn't really inspired 00:02:26.139 --> 00:02:28.800 by her famous distant father. It was inspired 00:02:28.800 --> 00:02:31.080 by watching films with her mother, who was sort 00:02:31.080 --> 00:02:33.039 of living vicariously through the art she'd given 00:02:33.039 --> 00:02:35.300 up. Right. And even though she had that tiny, 00:02:35.419 --> 00:02:38.500 uncredited role in her father's 1982 film Looking 00:02:38.500 --> 00:02:41.280 to Get Out, her early life was defined by the 00:02:41.280 --> 00:02:43.419 separation, not by any kind of collaboration 00:02:43.419 --> 00:02:46.259 with him. We also find a specific detail in the 00:02:46.259 --> 00:02:48.280 background that really hints at that fractured 00:02:48.280 --> 00:02:51.099 family dynamic. She has confirmed German and 00:02:51.099 --> 00:02:54.639 Slovak descent from her father's side and Dutch 00:02:54.639 --> 00:02:56.680 and French ancestry from her mother. But the 00:02:56.680 --> 00:02:59.099 sources note that her claimed distant indigenous 00:02:59.099 --> 00:03:01.780 Iroquois ancestry, which stemmed from her French 00:03:01.780 --> 00:03:04.710 -Canadian mother, was publicly and, I mean, controversially 00:03:04.710 --> 00:03:07.270 disputed by John Voight himself. He claimed they 00:03:07.270 --> 00:03:09.870 had made it up. Yes. He claimed they had made 00:03:09.870 --> 00:03:12.729 it up years ago to make Marklin seem more exotic. 00:03:13.289 --> 00:03:16.150 It just shows the level of tension present, you 00:03:16.150 --> 00:03:18.509 know, even when discussing basic family heritage. 00:03:18.810 --> 00:03:22.050 Wow. And that tension was compounded by her educational 00:03:22.050 --> 00:03:24.349 experience. She did train at the Lee Strasberg 00:03:24.349 --> 00:03:26.389 Theater Institute, but when she attended Beverly 00:03:26.389 --> 00:03:29.069 Hill High School, she felt intensely isolated. 00:03:29.599 --> 00:03:31.879 This wasn't the typical Hollywood teen experience 00:03:31.879 --> 00:03:34.479 at all. She was reportedly teased not because 00:03:34.479 --> 00:03:36.680 of her celebrity parents, but because she was 00:03:36.680 --> 00:03:39.280 much thinner than her peers and wore glasses 00:03:39.280 --> 00:03:41.560 and braces in an environment that was obsessed 00:03:41.560 --> 00:03:43.379 with wealth and, you know, perfect appearance. 00:03:43.580 --> 00:03:46.939 That experience pushed her into a kind of a self 00:03:46.939 --> 00:03:50.439 -imposed exile from that whole culture. She transferred 00:03:50.439 --> 00:03:52.439 to Moreno High School, an alternative school, 00:03:52.639 --> 00:03:55.430 and cultivated the image of... punk outsider. 00:03:55.689 --> 00:03:58.110 And this era is so crucial for understanding 00:03:58.110 --> 00:04:00.689 her early public identity. She wore all black. 00:04:00.750 --> 00:04:03.069 She was going to moshing venues and critically 00:04:03.069 --> 00:04:05.750 began engaging in these self -destructive behaviors, 00:04:06.030 --> 00:04:08.870 including knife play, often with a live -in boyfriend. 00:04:09.210 --> 00:04:12.110 So that rebellious extreme image was clearly 00:04:12.110 --> 00:04:14.189 rooted in some very deep feelings of isolation. 00:04:14.490 --> 00:04:17.329 Absolutely. This period of intense internal struggle, 00:04:17.470 --> 00:04:19.689 it really informed her early public persona. 00:04:20.009 --> 00:04:23.569 And we need to dedicate some time. to the depth 00:04:23.569 --> 00:04:26.029 of this turmoil. It's just so central to her 00:04:26.029 --> 00:04:28.050 later transformation. This was not just teenage 00:04:28.050 --> 00:04:30.629 rebellion. This was a real crisis. The sources 00:04:30.629 --> 00:04:33.269 are very graphic about her state of mind. As 00:04:33.269 --> 00:04:35.029 a teenager, she struggled with this profound 00:04:35.029 --> 00:04:38.209 emotional disconnection. The resulting self -harm 00:04:38.209 --> 00:04:40.589 was a desperate attempt to cope. She described 00:04:40.589 --> 00:04:42.889 the pain and the ritual of cutting herself as 00:04:42.889 --> 00:04:45.670 somehow therapeutic. It was a way to force a 00:04:45.670 --> 00:04:47.509 sense of feeling or release when she otherwise 00:04:47.509 --> 00:04:49.990 felt numb. And the struggle spiraled dramatically 00:04:49.990 --> 00:04:53.470 from there. She battled severe insomnia, an eating 00:04:53.470 --> 00:04:56.129 disorder, and the use of substances escalated 00:04:56.129 --> 00:04:58.209 very quickly. Very quickly. The record shows 00:04:58.209 --> 00:05:00.589 that by age 20, she had admitted to using just 00:05:00.589 --> 00:05:02.850 about every drug possible. And she specifically 00:05:02.850 --> 00:05:05.290 named heroin as a drug she heavily used during 00:05:05.290 --> 00:05:07.670 that time. The depression reached, I mean, just 00:05:07.670 --> 00:05:09.850 catastrophic levels, culminating in multiple 00:05:09.850 --> 00:05:12.670 suicide plans. She planned suicide twice, once 00:05:12.670 --> 00:05:15.750 at 19 and again at 22. The most shocking detail 00:05:15.750 --> 00:05:18.050 in the sources is her attempt to hire a hitman 00:05:18.050 --> 00:05:21.779 to kill her at age 22. A hitman. She later explained 00:05:21.779 --> 00:05:23.920 it was partly an attempt to avoid the guilt for 00:05:23.920 --> 00:05:26.500 her family, the guilt associated with a conventional 00:05:26.500 --> 00:05:29.639 suicide. She saw it as a way to die without being 00:05:29.639 --> 00:05:31.879 responsible for the direct action. That is just 00:05:31.879 --> 00:05:35.459 an incredible level of desperation. It is. And 00:05:35.459 --> 00:05:37.800 it led finally to a nervous breakdown at age 00:05:37.800 --> 00:05:41.500 24, resulting in a 72 -hour admission to a psychiatric 00:05:41.500 --> 00:05:44.399 ward for observation. That's an astonishing amount 00:05:44.399 --> 00:05:47.079 of internal chaos. So if that was the absolute 00:05:47.079 --> 00:05:49.139 lowest point, what was the definitive turning 00:05:49.139 --> 00:05:51.699 point that allowed her to regain control and 00:05:51.699 --> 00:05:53.899 find some stability? It was the absolute commitment 00:05:53.899 --> 00:05:56.240 required by motherhood. After she adopted her 00:05:56.240 --> 00:05:59.339 first child, Maddox, in 2002, that self -destructive 00:05:59.339 --> 00:06:02.800 spiral just halted completely. Completely. She 00:06:02.800 --> 00:06:04.920 stated it very clearly. She found stability in 00:06:04.920 --> 00:06:07.279 the responsibility. I knew once I committed to 00:06:07.279 --> 00:06:09.180 Maddox, I would never be self -destructive again. 00:06:09.699 --> 00:06:12.019 That commitment provided the necessary focus 00:06:12.019 --> 00:06:14.860 and external anchor that ended decades of internal 00:06:14.860 --> 00:06:17.100 struggle. We also have to detail the lifelong 00:06:17.100 --> 00:06:19.220 dysfunctional relationship she had with her father, 00:06:19.319 --> 00:06:21.779 John Voight. While the trouble started when he 00:06:21.779 --> 00:06:24.120 left the family, they did attempt a reconciliation. 00:06:24.839 --> 00:06:26.819 Right, when they start together in Lara Croft, 00:06:26.879 --> 00:06:30.139 Tomb Raider in 2001. Exactly. But that reconciliation 00:06:30.139 --> 00:06:33.560 was volatile and very brief. The relationship 00:06:33.560 --> 00:06:36.540 quickly deteriorated after Voight went public 00:06:36.540 --> 00:06:39.399 during a TV appearance, claiming she had serious 00:06:39.399 --> 00:06:42.279 mental problems and needed help. A public betrayal 00:06:42.279 --> 00:06:44.980 like that. It was the last straw. In response, 00:06:45.420 --> 00:06:48.720 Jolie legally removed the Voight surname in 2002. 00:06:49.529 --> 00:06:51.810 They entered a period of total estrangement, 00:06:51.810 --> 00:06:54.569 not speaking for six and a half years. They only 00:06:54.569 --> 00:06:56.769 began to rebuild their relationship after her 00:06:56.769 --> 00:06:58.990 mother, Marshallene Bertrand, passed away in 00:06:58.990 --> 00:07:02.689 2007. This legal separation was a profound move 00:07:02.689 --> 00:07:04.889 toward establishing her own identity. And her 00:07:04.889 --> 00:07:07.410 own psychological boundaries. Precisely. So when 00:07:07.410 --> 00:07:09.430 she committed to stability and fully committed 00:07:09.430 --> 00:07:11.750 to her craft, her professional ascent was just 00:07:11.750 --> 00:07:14.569 meteoric. Let's track that path from a struggling, 00:07:14.610 --> 00:07:16.610 intense young actor to the world's highest paid 00:07:16.610 --> 00:07:30.899 movie star. Too dark. You hear that a lot in 00:07:30.899 --> 00:07:33.980 the sources. So she took alternative work. She 00:07:33.980 --> 00:07:36.500 appeared in five student films made by her brother, 00:07:36.600 --> 00:07:39.339 and notably she leveraged her distinctive look 00:07:39.339 --> 00:07:42.000 in the 90s music scene, appearing in several 00:07:42.000 --> 00:07:44.300 high -profile music videos. Oh yeah, for huge 00:07:44.300 --> 00:07:47.120 artists. We're talking about videos for Lenny 00:07:47.120 --> 00:07:49.500 Kravitz, Meatloaf, and famously the Rolling Stones' 00:07:49.720 --> 00:07:52.279 Anybody Seen My Baby. Where she played a stripper. 00:07:52.759 --> 00:07:54.720 who suddenly leaves mid -performance. That's 00:07:54.720 --> 00:07:57.439 the one. She also appeared on a widespread Panic 00:07:57.439 --> 00:07:59.800 album cover. She was everywhere in that kind 00:07:59.800 --> 00:08:02.000 of alternative culture. Her first major professional 00:08:02.000 --> 00:08:04.319 film roles were not immediate successes, though. 00:08:04.620 --> 00:08:06.920 Her first leading role was in the direct -to 00:08:06.920 --> 00:08:11.300 -video sci -fi sequel See Cyborg 2 in 1993, a 00:08:11.300 --> 00:08:13.639 film she later said she was so disappointed with 00:08:13.639 --> 00:08:15.819 that she stopped auditioning for a full year. 00:08:16.170 --> 00:08:17.970 She realized she needed to be highly selective. 00:08:18.189 --> 00:08:20.670 And the true breakthrough came with Hackers in 00:08:20.670 --> 00:08:23.430 1995. Even though it failed at the box office, 00:08:23.589 --> 00:08:25.870 it quickly developed this massive cult following. 00:08:26.009 --> 00:08:28.529 And for the first time, critics really acknowledged 00:08:28.529 --> 00:08:31.129 her unique power. The New York Times highlighted 00:08:31.129 --> 00:08:33.990 how she stands out from her co -stars. So that 00:08:33.990 --> 00:08:36.669 role defined her as a specific, powerful presence, 00:08:36.769 --> 00:08:39.049 even if the film itself was pretty niche at the 00:08:39.049 --> 00:08:41.379 time. And that presence was increasingly noted 00:08:41.379 --> 00:08:44.120 by critics in more serious roles. In the 1996 00:08:44.120 --> 00:08:48.759 film Foxfire, she played Legs, a drifter. A critic 00:08:48.759 --> 00:08:51.059 noted she possessed the sheer screen presence 00:08:51.059 --> 00:08:54.059 to overcome the stereotype of the role. So she's 00:08:54.059 --> 00:08:57.340 showcasing this raw, natural ability to command 00:08:57.340 --> 00:09:00.179 attention. Yes. This marked the beginning of 00:09:00.179 --> 00:09:03.019 her transition from a curiosity into a serious, 00:09:03.019 --> 00:09:05.559 dramatic talent, someone capable of inhabiting 00:09:05.559 --> 00:09:08.559 these intense, complex characters. Okay, so this 00:09:08.559 --> 00:09:11.600 three -year window. From 97 to 2000, this is 00:09:11.600 --> 00:09:13.620 where she really cemented her reputation in Hollywood. 00:09:13.860 --> 00:09:16.519 She stopped being the dark actor and became the 00:09:16.519 --> 00:09:18.700 intense, complex talent. And a lot of that happened 00:09:18.700 --> 00:09:21.220 through television initially. Precisely. She 00:09:21.220 --> 00:09:23.419 won a Golden Globe for portraying Cornelia Wallace 00:09:23.419 --> 00:09:26.879 in the 1997 TV film George Wallace, which really 00:09:26.879 --> 00:09:28.700 set the stage for her most critically defining 00:09:28.700 --> 00:09:32.259 TV role as the supermodel Gia Karangi in HBO's 00:09:32.259 --> 00:09:35.990 Gia in 1998. And Gia was a monumental performance. 00:09:36.389 --> 00:09:39.370 It was a harrowing portrait of the model's descent 00:09:39.370 --> 00:09:41.690 into drug addiction and her eventual death from 00:09:41.690 --> 00:09:45.269 AIDS. Critics were just effusive. They called 00:09:45.269 --> 00:09:48.289 her performance fierce and declared the tragic 00:09:48.289 --> 00:09:50.970 character quite possibly the most beautiful train 00:09:50.970 --> 00:09:53.870 wreck ever filmed. And the awards just followed. 00:09:54.029 --> 00:09:57.409 Her second consecutive Golden Globe and her first 00:09:57.409 --> 00:10:00.899 Screen Actors Guild Award. And the level of commitment 00:10:00.899 --> 00:10:03.399 involved was so intense, you know, reflecting 00:10:03.399 --> 00:10:05.820 the methods of the Strasberg training she received. 00:10:06.179 --> 00:10:08.700 She used method acting, fully immersing herself 00:10:08.700 --> 00:10:10.919 in the character's isolation. Didn't she tell 00:10:10.919 --> 00:10:13.139 her husband at the time, Johnny Lee Miller, that 00:10:13.139 --> 00:10:14.960 she couldn't even call him? That's right. She 00:10:14.960 --> 00:10:16.960 famously told him she couldn't call, explaining 00:10:16.960 --> 00:10:19.539 the level of emotional distance she needed. I'm 00:10:19.539 --> 00:10:21.879 alone. I'm dying. I'm gay. I'm not going to see 00:10:21.879 --> 00:10:24.799 you for weeks. The emotional toll was so great 00:10:24.799 --> 00:10:26.700 that she actually declared she was quitting acting 00:10:26.700 --> 00:10:28.919 immediately afterward, feeling she had nothing. 00:10:29.039 --> 00:10:30.980 else to give. But she returned pretty quickly 00:10:30.980 --> 00:10:33.399 to take on the supporting role of the sociopathic 00:10:33.399 --> 00:10:36.500 Lisa Rowe in Girl. Interrupted. A perfect role 00:10:36.500 --> 00:10:39.399 for her. It really was. This role leveraged her 00:10:39.399 --> 00:10:42.460 natural intensity perfectly. Roger Ebert praised 00:10:42.460 --> 00:10:44.919 her emergence as one of the great wild spirits 00:10:44.919 --> 00:10:47.179 of current movies, a loose cannon who somehow 00:10:47.179 --> 00:10:50.149 has deadly aim. That performance led to a complete 00:10:50.149 --> 00:10:52.610 sweep of the major awards, the Academy Award, 00:10:52.950 --> 00:10:55.009 Golden Globe, and SAG Award for Best Supporting 00:10:55.009 --> 00:10:58.149 Actress. This validated her as a top -tier dramatic 00:10:58.149 --> 00:11:01.210 actress. And importantly, she immediately followed 00:11:01.210 --> 00:11:03.830 this highly emotional, demanding role with a 00:11:03.830 --> 00:11:06.649 very calculated commercial move. The summer blockbusters 00:11:06.649 --> 00:11:09.009 are gone in 60 seconds. Exactly, which grossed 00:11:09.009 --> 00:11:12.809 over $237 million, proving she could handle action 00:11:12.809 --> 00:11:15.149 and star power just as well as she could handle 00:11:15.149 --> 00:11:17.850 intense drama. So this next decade is characterized... 00:11:17.870 --> 00:11:20.750 by a massive strategic shift, leveraging that 00:11:20.750 --> 00:11:23.809 Oscar -winning credibility into global box office 00:11:23.809 --> 00:11:26.169 superstardom. And the pivot was centered on one 00:11:26.169 --> 00:11:29.919 role, Lara Croft. Lara Croft. Tomb Raider in 00:11:29.919 --> 00:11:33.100 2001 was the ignition point. It was huge. She 00:11:33.100 --> 00:11:35.299 trained extensively in martial arts. She mastered 00:11:35.299 --> 00:11:37.440 an English accent for the part. And although 00:11:37.440 --> 00:11:40.019 critics were mixed on the film itself, her physical 00:11:40.019 --> 00:11:43.059 performance was widely lauded. The film grossed 00:11:43.059 --> 00:11:47.179 nearly $275 million worldwide, instantly transforming 00:11:47.179 --> 00:11:50.279 her into the world's premier female action star. 00:11:50.440 --> 00:11:52.740 A truly global icon. Yeah. And the financial 00:11:52.740 --> 00:11:54.980 impact of this shift was immediate and dramatic. 00:11:55.519 --> 00:11:58.759 By 2002, she had cemented her place among Hollywood's 00:11:58.759 --> 00:12:00.860 highest -paid actresses. She was commanding salaries 00:12:00.860 --> 00:12:04.320 of $10 to $15 million per film. That figure later 00:12:04.320 --> 00:12:07.480 increased to $15 to $20 million by 2008. This 00:12:07.480 --> 00:12:09.860 commercial power was the fuel for her later diplomatic 00:12:09.860 --> 00:12:12.700 platform. And the box office hits just kept coming. 00:12:13.159 --> 00:12:15.960 demonstrating her magnetic appeal. Mr. and Mrs. 00:12:16.039 --> 00:12:19.240 Smith in 2005 opposite Brad Pitt was a near half 00:12:19.240 --> 00:12:21.539 -billion -dollar global success. And the film's 00:12:21.539 --> 00:12:23.460 power wasn't just in the action, was it? It was 00:12:23.460 --> 00:12:25.899 in the real -life curiosity surrounding the stars, 00:12:26.019 --> 00:12:28.480 generating what critics called thermonuclear 00:12:28.480 --> 00:12:30.799 screen chemistry. Right, and catapulting the 00:12:30.799 --> 00:12:33.039 Brangelina phenomenon into the global stratosphere. 00:12:33.519 --> 00:12:36.059 Subsequent action hits followed, confirming her 00:12:36.059 --> 00:12:40.059 bankability. You Have Wanted in 2008, which grossed 00:12:40.059 --> 00:12:43.779 over $340 million internationally. And critically, 00:12:44.350 --> 00:12:47.289 Salt, in 2010, demonstrated her power to shape 00:12:47.289 --> 00:12:49.789 these projects. That script was originally written 00:12:49.789 --> 00:12:52.590 for Tom Cruise. For Tom Cruise. And they changed 00:12:52.590 --> 00:12:54.470 the gender for her. They changed the gender of 00:12:54.470 --> 00:12:56.950 the main character for her, and it resulted in 00:12:56.950 --> 00:13:00.330 a global success that brought in over $293 million. 00:13:00.870 --> 00:13:03.289 But the sources also confirm that she maintained 00:13:03.289 --> 00:13:06.029 a clear strategy to balance these explosive action 00:13:06.029 --> 00:13:09.330 roles with serious, demanding, dramatic work. 00:13:09.549 --> 00:13:11.950 This was essential for her to maintain her critical 00:13:11.950 --> 00:13:14.529 credibility. Absolutely. Roles like Marianne 00:13:14.529 --> 00:13:16.889 Pearl in A Mighty Heart and her powerhouse performance 00:13:16.889 --> 00:13:19.649 in Clint Eastwood's Changeling kept her squarely 00:13:19.649 --> 00:13:22.070 in the awards conversation. Earning Golden Globes, 00:13:22.190 --> 00:13:25.090 SAG, and an Academy Award nomination for Best 00:13:25.090 --> 00:13:27.450 Actress. She was demonstrating that she could 00:13:27.450 --> 00:13:29.389 command massive budgets while still delivering 00:13:29.389 --> 00:13:32.789 performances for complex, serious auteurs. She 00:13:32.789 --> 00:13:34.909 successfully cornered the market in both commercial 00:13:34.909 --> 00:13:37.909 viability and critical dramatic prestige, which 00:13:37.909 --> 00:13:40.289 is an incredibly rare feat. And, of course, you 00:13:40.289 --> 00:13:42.309 can't forget the steady success of her voice 00:13:42.309 --> 00:13:45.100 roles. particularly as Tigress in the highly 00:13:45.100 --> 00:13:47.960 lucrative Kung Fu Panda franchise and her earlier 00:13:47.960 --> 00:13:50.860 work in Shark Tale. That just added another layer 00:13:50.860 --> 00:13:53.039 of consistent professional output during this 00:13:53.039 --> 00:13:55.700 decade. The sources indicate a major personal 00:13:55.700 --> 00:13:58.080 shift occurred after her mother's death in 2007. 00:13:58.880 --> 00:14:02.120 This prompted her to appear in fewer films, and 00:14:02.120 --> 00:14:04.259 she stated her initial motivation for acting 00:14:04.259 --> 00:14:06.480 had largely been tied to fulfilling her mother's 00:14:06.480 --> 00:14:09.500 aspirations. So this marks the perfect inflection 00:14:09.500 --> 00:14:12.419 point for her move behind the camera, a creative 00:14:12.419 --> 00:14:14.700 pivot that allows her artistic output to align 00:14:14.700 --> 00:14:17.539 directly with her deep -seated global advocacy. 00:14:17.899 --> 00:14:20.220 It's a very intentional transition. Directing 00:14:20.220 --> 00:14:22.159 allowed her to control the narrative and focus 00:14:22.159 --> 00:14:24.899 on the stories she cared about most, namely those 00:14:24.899 --> 00:14:27.460 involving global conflict and human rights crises. 00:14:28.110 --> 00:14:30.590 themes that traditional acting roles rarely provided. 00:14:30.789 --> 00:14:33.750 Her first feature directorial debut, In the Land 00:14:33.750 --> 00:14:36.190 of Blood and Honey from 2011, set during the 00:14:36.190 --> 00:14:38.789 Bosnian War, was conceived purely to generate 00:14:38.789 --> 00:14:41.009 awareness for the survivors and victims of sexual 00:14:41.009 --> 00:14:43.470 violence during that conflict. The authenticity 00:14:43.470 --> 00:14:46.710 she strived for was remarkable. She made the 00:14:46.710 --> 00:14:49.590 decision to use only actors from the former Yugoslavia, 00:14:49.730 --> 00:14:52.289 and she incorporated their own wartime experiences 00:14:52.289 --> 00:14:55.610 into the script itself. While critics were mixed, 00:14:55.830 --> 00:14:57.870 you know, some found the atmosphere compelling, 00:14:58.169 --> 00:15:00.429 others felt the subject matter was too difficult. 00:15:00.549 --> 00:15:02.870 It was nominated for a Golden Globe for Best 00:15:02.870 --> 00:15:05.490 Foreign Language Film. But the real marker of 00:15:05.490 --> 00:15:08.990 its success for her was the result. She was named 00:15:08.990 --> 00:15:11.779 an honorary citizen of Sarajevo. for raising 00:15:11.779 --> 00:15:14.340 awareness of the war's atrocities exactly following 00:15:14.340 --> 00:15:17.279 that she took on the complex story of wwii hero 00:15:17.279 --> 00:15:20.639 louis zamperini in unbroken in 2014 which was 00:15:20.639 --> 00:15:22.700 scripted by the cohen brothers and unbroken was 00:15:22.700 --> 00:15:25.360 a big jump into blockbuster level directing a 00:15:25.360 --> 00:15:28.200 huge jump and while it was financially successful 00:15:28.200 --> 00:15:31.039 the critical reception was mixed critics argued 00:15:31.039 --> 00:15:33.379 that despite the impeccable craftsmanship and 00:15:33.379 --> 00:15:35.620 an extraordinary source story the film itself 00:15:35.620 --> 00:15:39.070 felt dutiful and unexceptional. Which raises 00:15:39.070 --> 00:15:41.370 an interesting question for analysis. Was the 00:15:41.370 --> 00:15:44.029 directorial project designed purely for visibility, 00:15:44.490 --> 00:15:47.330 you know, a high -profile success to solidify 00:15:47.330 --> 00:15:50.870 her directing career? Or was the critical dismissal 00:15:50.870 --> 00:15:52.769 a sign that her powerful public humanitarian 00:15:52.769 --> 00:15:55.850 image sometimes overwhelmed her artistic credibility 00:15:55.850 --> 00:15:58.190 in the eyes of her viewers? That's a great question. 00:15:58.779 --> 00:16:02.399 Then came By the Sea in 2015, a deeply personal 00:16:02.399 --> 00:16:05.659 marital drama where she starred opposite Brad 00:16:05.659 --> 00:16:08.440 Pitt, drawing heavily on themes related to her 00:16:08.440 --> 00:16:11.259 mother's life. This film was a significant risk. 00:16:11.419 --> 00:16:14.279 She directed, wrote and starred in it. It was 00:16:14.279 --> 00:16:16.799 clearly ambitious and deeply personal, but unfortunately, 00:16:16.899 --> 00:16:19.759 it was widely dismissed by critics. as a vanity 00:16:19.759 --> 00:16:22.700 project. It really was. It performed poorly commercially 00:16:22.700 --> 00:16:24.759 and got a limited release. It shows that even 00:16:24.759 --> 00:16:27.019 with her star power, critics were hesitant to 00:16:27.019 --> 00:16:29.440 embrace her in a stripped -down, purely auteur 00:16:29.440 --> 00:16:32.299 -driven context unless the topic had a clear 00:16:32.299 --> 00:16:35.000 external humanitarian focus. But she rebounded 00:16:35.000 --> 00:16:36.879 successfully with First They Killed My Father 00:16:36.879 --> 00:16:39.860 in 2017, a drama focusing on Cambodia's Khmer 00:16:39.860 --> 00:16:42.279 Rouge era, a subject very close to her heart 00:16:42.279 --> 00:16:44.600 because of Maddox's birthplace. This was a strategic 00:16:44.600 --> 00:16:47.940 move back toward authenticity and advocacy. It 00:16:47.940 --> 00:16:50.600 was produced for Netflix, featured an exclusively 00:16:50.600 --> 00:16:53.860 Khmer cast and script, and was primarily intended 00:16:53.860 --> 00:16:56.799 for a Cambodian audience. And this approach paid 00:16:56.799 --> 00:16:59.720 off immensely. The film earned her nominations 00:16:59.720 --> 00:17:02.679 for Best Foreign Language Film at the BAFTAs 00:17:02.679 --> 00:17:05.339 and the Golden Globes. Critics really recognized 00:17:05.339 --> 00:17:08.599 her growth, praising her as a skilled and sensitive 00:17:08.599 --> 00:17:10.700 filmmaker. In recent years, she seems to have 00:17:10.700 --> 00:17:13.359 found a clear balance returning to major franchises 00:17:13.359 --> 00:17:16.519 that guarantee global visibility while continuing 00:17:16.519 --> 00:17:18.579 to pursue... pursue these auteur -driven projects. 00:17:18.859 --> 00:17:21.819 That franchise stability is so important. She 00:17:21.819 --> 00:17:24.660 reprised her titular role in Maleficent, Mistress 00:17:24.660 --> 00:17:27.440 of Evil in 2019, which was a staggering global 00:17:27.440 --> 00:17:31.519 success, grossing $490 million. And she officially 00:17:31.519 --> 00:17:33.920 joined the Marvel Cinematic Universe as the powerful 00:17:33.920 --> 00:17:36.279 warrior, Thena in Eternals. And even in that 00:17:36.279 --> 00:17:39.119 superhero genre, her character was imbued with 00:17:39.119 --> 00:17:41.789 depth. Critics noted the touching naivete in 00:17:41.789 --> 00:17:43.869 her portrayal of a warrior struggling with PTSD. 00:17:44.210 --> 00:17:46.450 Exactly. And her continued commitment to serious 00:17:46.450 --> 00:17:48.569 acting is evident in her recent biographical 00:17:48.569 --> 00:17:51.609 film, Pablo Lorraine's Maria, where she portrays 00:17:51.609 --> 00:17:54.349 opera singer Maria Callas. That role signals 00:17:54.349 --> 00:17:57.470 that she hasn't abandoned intense dramatic performance. 00:17:57.990 --> 00:18:00.470 She's already received career best performance 00:18:00.470 --> 00:18:03.609 reviews and another Golden Globe nomination for 00:18:03.609 --> 00:18:06.369 it. This balance ensures she remains relevant 00:18:06.369 --> 00:18:09.250 across both commercial and artistic cinema. And 00:18:09.250 --> 00:18:11.269 she's expanding her influence even further as 00:18:11.269 --> 00:18:14.150 a producer. She won the Tony Award for Best Musical 00:18:14.150 --> 00:18:16.950 in 2024 for The Outsiders, showing her production 00:18:16.950 --> 00:18:19.869 acumen extends successfully beyond cinema. And 00:18:19.869 --> 00:18:21.910 she also directed and wrote the upcoming war 00:18:21.910 --> 00:18:24.529 drama Without Blood, confirming that the themes 00:18:24.529 --> 00:18:26.970 of conflict and survival remain the central focus 00:18:26.970 --> 00:18:29.529 of her creative life. This section is really 00:18:29.529 --> 00:18:32.009 the core of her legacy transformation. She moved 00:18:32.009 --> 00:18:34.309 from being an A -list actress to becoming a high 00:18:34.309 --> 00:18:36.289 -level diplomatic actor on the global stage. 00:18:36.509 --> 00:18:39.279 And this required strategy, commitment, and a 00:18:39.279 --> 00:18:41.079 willingness to put herself in genuine danger. 00:18:41.319 --> 00:18:43.619 Absolutely. The genesis of the second career 00:18:43.619 --> 00:18:46.720 was her experience filming Lara Croft, Tomb Raider, 00:18:46.740 --> 00:18:50.079 back in 2001 in war -torn Cambodia. She openly 00:18:50.079 --> 00:18:52.160 credited that experience with suddenly opening 00:18:52.160 --> 00:18:54.920 her eyes and bringing her a greater, more tangible 00:18:54.920 --> 00:18:57.619 understanding of the world's humanitarian needs. 00:18:58.000 --> 00:19:00.279 And she acted on that realization immediately. 00:19:00.700 --> 00:19:02.940 She contacted the United Nations High Commissioner 00:19:02.940 --> 00:19:07.180 for Refugees, the UNHCR, upon her return. Her 00:19:07.180 --> 00:19:09.779 very first mission in 2001 was a punishing 18 00:19:09.779 --> 00:19:12.960 -day trip to Sierra Leone and Tanzania. And critically, 00:19:13.200 --> 00:19:15.740 she was not just seeking media attention. She 00:19:15.740 --> 00:19:18.579 aimed to visit forgotten emergencies, crises 00:19:18.579 --> 00:19:21.019 that had fallen off the front pages. The sources 00:19:21.019 --> 00:19:24.200 show the depth of her immediate commitment. Later 00:19:24.200 --> 00:19:26.819 that year, after meeting Afghan refugees in Pakistan, 00:19:27.180 --> 00:19:30.160 she donated $1 million to the UNHCR's emergency 00:19:30.160 --> 00:19:33.200 appeal. We have to emphasize the significance 00:19:33.200 --> 00:19:35.779 of that. This was the largest private donation 00:19:35.779 --> 00:19:38.500 the UNHCR had ever received at that time. It 00:19:38.500 --> 00:19:40.779 instantly signaled that she was investing her 00:19:40.779 --> 00:19:43.660 massive earnings directly into the cause, and 00:19:43.660 --> 00:19:45.799 she wasn't operating under celebrity privileges. 00:19:46.220 --> 00:19:48.579 She insisted on covering all her own costs for 00:19:48.579 --> 00:19:50.880 her missions, sharing the exact same rudimentary 00:19:50.880 --> 00:19:53.140 living and working conditions as the field staff. 00:19:53.400 --> 00:19:55.480 And over the next decade, after being named a 00:19:55.480 --> 00:19:58.859 UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador in August 2001, she 00:19:58.859 --> 00:20:01.019 completed over 40 field missions to more than 00:20:01.019 --> 00:20:03.720 30 countries. And these weren't safe visits either. 00:20:03.900 --> 00:20:06.299 The sources specifically note her willingness 00:20:06.299 --> 00:20:09.640 to travel to extremely dangerous war zones, including 00:20:09.640 --> 00:20:12.579 Darfur during the peak of the conflict, the Syrian 00:20:12.579 --> 00:20:15.680 -Iraqi border and Kabul, where aid workers were 00:20:15.680 --> 00:20:18.230 actually murdered during her first visit. To 00:20:18.230 --> 00:20:21.210 physically aid her mission. She even took flying 00:20:21.210 --> 00:20:23.890 lessons starting in 2004. Right. She acquired 00:20:23.890 --> 00:20:26.950 a pilot license and eventually owned two aircraft, 00:20:27.289 --> 00:20:31.650 a Cirrus SR -22 and a Cessna 208 Caravan, with 00:20:31.650 --> 00:20:34.069 the explicit goal of personally ferrying aid 00:20:34.069 --> 00:20:36.950 workers and supplies to remote locations. This 00:20:36.950 --> 00:20:38.809 just demonstrates the level of infrastructure 00:20:38.809 --> 00:20:41.269 and personal involvement she created around her 00:20:41.269 --> 00:20:43.829 advocacy. Her work then gained a clear diplomatic 00:20:43.829 --> 00:20:46.589 focus in 2012 when she was promoted to special 00:20:46.589 --> 00:20:48.549 envoy to the U .S. the High Commissioner, Antonio 00:20:48.549 --> 00:20:51.089 Guterres, who would later become the UN Secretary 00:20:51.089 --> 00:20:54.029 General. This was a critical elevation of status. 00:20:54.589 --> 00:20:57.490 That promotion was more than ceremonial. It granted 00:20:57.490 --> 00:21:00.309 her genuine diplomatic authority. While the goodwill 00:21:00.309 --> 00:21:02.410 ambassador role is focused on awareness, the 00:21:02.410 --> 00:21:04.869 special envoy role meant focusing on major crises, 00:21:05.150 --> 00:21:07.130 representing the high commissioner at a government 00:21:07.130 --> 00:21:09.250 level and engaging in high stakes diplomatic 00:21:09.250 --> 00:21:12.890 advocacy. For instance, she toured Jordan, Lebanon 00:21:12.890 --> 00:21:15.890 and Iraq to assess the Syrian refugee situation 00:21:15.890 --> 00:21:18.849 and met with governments to secure greater support. 00:21:19.279 --> 00:21:20.980 And even though she resigned from the formal 00:21:20.980 --> 00:21:24.480 ambassadorship in December 2022, she immediately 00:21:24.480 --> 00:21:26.859 committed to continuing her advocacy independently. 00:21:27.759 --> 00:21:30.160 Her work quickly expanded beyond refugee issues 00:21:30.160 --> 00:21:32.240 into large -scale conservation and community 00:21:32.240 --> 00:21:34.920 development, largely centralized in Cambodia, 00:21:35.200 --> 00:21:37.359 the birthplace of her son Maddox. That's right. 00:21:37.519 --> 00:21:41.140 In 2003, she purchased 60 ,000 hectares of deforested 00:21:41.140 --> 00:21:44.380 land adjacent to the Samlaut National Park, creating 00:21:44.380 --> 00:21:46.880 a dedicated wildlife reserve named the Maddox 00:21:46.880 --> 00:21:50.160 Jolie -Pitt Foundation, or MJP. This land was 00:21:50.160 --> 00:21:52.839 previously a hub for poaching. So in a stroke 00:21:52.839 --> 00:21:56.160 of strategic genius, she expanded MJP in 2006, 00:21:57.130 --> 00:21:59.650 a community development model based on economist 00:21:59.650 --> 00:22:02.109 Jeffrey Sachs' Millennium Village concept. So 00:22:02.109 --> 00:22:03.769 this wasn't simple charity, it was comprehensive 00:22:03.769 --> 00:22:06.349 community building. MJP funded the infrastructure. 00:22:06.690 --> 00:22:10.079 Schools, roads, soy milk factory. And most crucially, 00:22:10.240 --> 00:22:12.779 it employed former poachers and illegal loggers 00:22:12.779 --> 00:22:15.559 as wildlife rangers. She was transforming the 00:22:15.559 --> 00:22:17.720 economic incentives of the community, turning 00:22:17.720 --> 00:22:19.720 those who had previously degraded the environment 00:22:19.720 --> 00:22:21.880 into its primary protectors and beneficiaries. 00:22:22.420 --> 00:22:25.140 She also supported conservation in Africa, acting 00:22:25.140 --> 00:22:26.880 as patron to the Harness Wildlife Foundation 00:22:26.880 --> 00:22:30.220 in Namibia, and with Brad Pitt, co -established 00:22:30.220 --> 00:22:32.220 the Shiloh Jolie Pitt Foundation for Conservation 00:22:32.220 --> 00:22:34.930 Work in the Kalahari. Parallel to this, her legal 00:22:34.930 --> 00:22:37.329 and child advocacy work became highly specialized 00:22:37.329 --> 00:22:40.710 in the U .S. Since 2008, she has co -chaired 00:22:40.710 --> 00:22:43.910 Kids in Need of Defense, or KIND, an organization 00:22:43.910 --> 00:22:46.450 co -founded with Microsoft. And this is a crucial 00:22:46.450 --> 00:22:48.970 concept to define for our audience. KIND provides 00:22:48.970 --> 00:22:52.049 free legal aid to unaccompanied minors in U .S. 00:22:52.069 --> 00:22:54.470 immigration proceedings. Why is this so vital? 00:22:54.799 --> 00:22:56.940 It's vital because under U .S. law, children 00:22:56.940 --> 00:22:59.539 facing deportation proceedings are not guaranteed 00:22:59.539 --> 00:23:02.759 a lawyer, unlike in criminal court. These minors 00:23:02.759 --> 00:23:05.259 often have to navigate incredibly complex asylum, 00:23:05.559 --> 00:23:08.220 trafficking, or removal claims entirely on their 00:23:08.220 --> 00:23:11.440 own. Kaina quickly became the principal provider 00:23:11.440 --> 00:23:14.339 of pro bono legal representation for these vulnerable 00:23:14.339 --> 00:23:16.880 immigrant children, filling a massive gap in 00:23:16.880 --> 00:23:20.019 legal due process. She also focused heavily on 00:23:20.019 --> 00:23:23.059 education. She co -chairs the Education Partnership 00:23:23.059 --> 00:23:25.579 for Children of Conflict, providing funding for 00:23:25.579 --> 00:23:28.559 policy support and physical schools in conflict 00:23:28.559 --> 00:23:30.500 -affected regions like Iraq and Afghanistan. 00:23:30.819 --> 00:23:33.440 She personally funded schools for girls in Afghanistan 00:23:33.440 --> 00:23:36.559 and at the Kakuma refugee camp in Kenya. And 00:23:36.559 --> 00:23:38.900 she funds two children's centers, one in Phnom 00:23:38.900 --> 00:23:41.400 Penh and one in Ethiopia, dedicated to children 00:23:41.400 --> 00:23:43.920 living with HIV and tuberculosis. And she's even 00:23:43.920 --> 00:23:46.130 expanded her mission to media literacy. Right. 00:23:46.269 --> 00:23:49.650 She executive produced the BBC program My World, 00:23:49.869 --> 00:23:52.549 which was explicitly designed to teach teenagers 00:23:52.549 --> 00:23:54.970 how to think critically about journalism, identify 00:23:54.970 --> 00:23:57.869 bias, and distinguish quality information in 00:23:57.869 --> 00:24:00.710 an age of digital overload. She also co -authored 00:24:00.710 --> 00:24:02.849 the children's rights book Know Your Rights and 00:24:02.849 --> 00:24:05.089 claimed them with a leading British human rights 00:24:05.089 --> 00:24:07.970 lawyer, making complex legal concepts accessible 00:24:07.970 --> 00:24:10.890 to young people. Her ambition clearly transcended 00:24:10.890 --> 00:24:13.269 fundraising, though. She was seeking to influence 00:24:13.269 --> 00:24:16.380 foreign policy at the highest levels. She formalized 00:24:16.380 --> 00:24:19.440 this goal in 2007 by joining the Council on Foreign 00:24:19.440 --> 00:24:22.630 Relations, or CFR. And she backed this up with 00:24:22.630 --> 00:24:25.269 practical legal infrastructure. In 2011, she 00:24:25.269 --> 00:24:27.609 established the Jolie Legal Fellowship, sponsoring 00:24:27.609 --> 00:24:29.829 networks of lawyers to advocate for human rights 00:24:29.829 --> 00:24:31.990 development in their home countries. This meant 00:24:31.990 --> 00:24:33.970 funding lawyers to focus on child protection 00:24:33.970 --> 00:24:36.289 in Haiti and democratic process development in 00:24:36.289 --> 00:24:38.869 Libya, effectively planting legal seeds that 00:24:38.869 --> 00:24:40.970 would advocate for change from within. Her most 00:24:40.970 --> 00:24:43.509 impactful diplomatic campaign was the Preventing 00:24:43.509 --> 00:24:46.509 Sexual Violence Initiative, or PSVI, launched 00:24:46.509 --> 00:24:48.769 with then UK Foreign Secretary William Hague 00:24:48.769 --> 00:24:51.920 in 2012. PSVI was her diplomatic masterpiece, 00:24:52.380 --> 00:24:54.640 campaigning vigorously against the use of sexual 00:24:54.640 --> 00:24:57.420 violence as a weapon of war. Her engagement was 00:24:57.420 --> 00:25:00.059 relentless and high level. She addressed the 00:25:00.059 --> 00:25:02.180 G8 foreign ministers meeting, which led to a 00:25:02.180 --> 00:25:04.779 historic declaration on the issue. Crucially, 00:25:04.859 --> 00:25:07.599 she spoke before the UN Security Council, resulting 00:25:07.599 --> 00:25:09.859 in its broadest resolution on preventing sexual 00:25:09.859 --> 00:25:12.640 violence and conflict. OK, so what was the practical 00:25:12.640 --> 00:25:15.680 impact of that UN resolution? For our listeners 00:25:15.680 --> 00:25:18.559 seeking concentrated knowledge, what did it actually 00:25:18.559 --> 00:25:21.440 change on the ground? The resolutions she championed 00:25:21.440 --> 00:25:23.400 fundamentally changed international response 00:25:23.400 --> 00:25:25.759 mechanisms. They established monitoring teams, 00:25:25.960 --> 00:25:28.859 mandated specific training for UN peacekeeping 00:25:28.859 --> 00:25:31.480 and military personnel on how to respond to and 00:25:31.480 --> 00:25:34.299 document these crimes, and created specific definitions 00:25:34.299 --> 00:25:37.160 for these acts under international law. It made 00:25:37.160 --> 00:25:39.400 it much harder for perpetrators to claim impunity. 00:25:39.869 --> 00:25:42.450 This all culminated in co -chairing the massive 00:25:42.450 --> 00:25:45.769 2014 Global Summit to End Sexual Violence and 00:25:45.769 --> 00:25:48.109 Conflict, which resulted in a protocol endorsed 00:25:48.109 --> 00:25:51.009 by 151 nations. It's a massive shift in global 00:25:51.009 --> 00:25:54.630 consensus. A huge shift. This expertise was later 00:25:54.630 --> 00:25:58.029 formalized academically. In 2016, she was appointed 00:25:58.029 --> 00:26:00.170 a visiting professor at the London School of 00:26:00.170 --> 00:26:02.910 Economics. And her dedication to global policy 00:26:02.910 --> 00:26:05.670 was recognized when she was appointed an Honorary 00:26:05.670 --> 00:26:08.710 Dame Commander by Queen Elizabeth II in 2014. 00:26:09.200 --> 00:26:11.839 An extremely rare honor for a non -British citizen. 00:26:12.019 --> 00:26:14.539 Exactly. Domestically, she has been an active 00:26:14.539 --> 00:26:17.579 voice in Washington, D .C. She advocated strongly 00:26:17.579 --> 00:26:19.680 for the Violence Against Women Reauthorization 00:26:19.680 --> 00:26:22.319 Act, focusing on the need for trauma -informed 00:26:22.319 --> 00:26:25.500 court processes in domestic violence cases. She 00:26:25.500 --> 00:26:28.420 also championed Caden's Law. And for those unfamiliar 00:26:28.420 --> 00:26:30.660 with it, Caden's law is crucial because it addresses 00:26:30.660 --> 00:26:32.619 the systemic problem where children in custody 00:26:32.619 --> 00:26:34.799 cases are often returned to abusive parents. 00:26:34.980 --> 00:26:37.259 The law requires courts to consider evidence 00:26:37.259 --> 00:26:39.980 of domestic violence and prioritize the child's 00:26:39.980 --> 00:26:42.740 safety. Exactly. She also pushed for the Justice 00:26:42.740 --> 00:26:46.039 for All Reauthorization Act of 2022, aimed at 00:26:46.039 --> 00:26:48.220 improving victims' rights across the U .S. and, 00:26:48.279 --> 00:26:50.480 importantly, addressing the notorious national 00:26:50.480 --> 00:26:54.019 backlog of rape kits. Finally, we must maintain 00:26:54.019 --> 00:26:56.980 impartiality and report on her engagement in 00:26:56.980 --> 00:26:59.480 recent global crises as documented in the sources. 00:26:59.980 --> 00:27:02.140 Following the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 00:27:02.140 --> 00:27:05.359 2022, she visited Ukrainian children hospitalized 00:27:05.359 --> 00:27:08.900 in Italy and Lviv. The source material also documents 00:27:08.900 --> 00:27:11.759 her strong criticism of Israel's military actions 00:27:11.759 --> 00:27:15.079 in Gaza in 2023. Her public statement condemned 00:27:15.079 --> 00:27:17.619 what she called the deliberate bombing of a trapped 00:27:17.619 --> 00:27:20.960 population and accused global leaders of complicity 00:27:20.960 --> 00:27:23.759 for their silence. Demanding an immediate humanitarian 00:27:23.759 --> 00:27:27.140 ceasefire. It's clear that crisis engagement, 00:27:27.460 --> 00:27:30.490 even when controversial. remains a defining part 00:27:30.490 --> 00:27:32.549 of her public platform, regardless of whether 00:27:32.549 --> 00:27:35.250 she holds an official diplomatic title. We now 00:27:35.250 --> 00:27:36.950 pivot to her personal life, a subject that has 00:27:36.950 --> 00:27:38.829 generated more global media consumption than 00:27:38.829 --> 00:27:40.869 perhaps any other celebrity of her generation. 00:27:41.109 --> 00:27:43.450 Her highly unconventional relationships and family 00:27:43.450 --> 00:27:45.630 structure have been a constant source of scrutiny. 00:27:45.789 --> 00:27:48.410 Her personal journey started early. The sources 00:27:48.410 --> 00:27:51.130 detail that at age 14, her mother allowed her 00:27:51.130 --> 00:27:54.279 serious boyfriend to live with them. Jolie explained 00:27:54.279 --> 00:27:57.039 this was marshalling strategy to ensure she explored 00:27:57.039 --> 00:28:00.079 the relationship in a safe way rather than being 00:28:00.079 --> 00:28:02.740 reckless on the streets. When the relationship 00:28:02.740 --> 00:28:05.519 ended at 16, she channeled that intensity right 00:28:05.519 --> 00:28:08.539 into her career. Her first marriage to Johnny 00:28:08.539 --> 00:28:12.160 Lee Miller in 1996, it really set the tone for 00:28:12.160 --> 00:28:15.980 her early unconventional public image. She wore 00:28:15.980 --> 00:28:18.599 black rubber pants and a white T -shirt with 00:28:18.599 --> 00:28:20.730 his name written on it. In her own blood. In 00:28:20.730 --> 00:28:22.569 her own blood. Yeah. They divorced four years 00:28:22.569 --> 00:28:25.210 later due to demanding work schedules, but remained 00:28:25.210 --> 00:28:27.170 close friends. And it's also important to note 00:28:27.170 --> 00:28:29.730 her relationship with model Jenny Shimizu, whom 00:28:29.730 --> 00:28:32.490 she met while filming Foxfire. Jolie stated that 00:28:32.490 --> 00:28:34.529 she probably would have married Shimizu had she 00:28:34.529 --> 00:28:36.910 not married Miller first. And when she was asked 00:28:36.910 --> 00:28:39.269 about her sexuality in 2003, she was entirely 00:28:39.269 --> 00:28:42.170 candid. Of course I'm bisexual. If I fell in 00:28:42.170 --> 00:28:44.029 love with a woman tomorrow, would I feel that 00:28:44.029 --> 00:28:46.230 it's okay to want to kiss and touch her? Absolutely. 00:28:46.589 --> 00:28:48.980 Her second marriage. to Billy Bob Thornton in 00:28:48.980 --> 00:28:52.279 2000 was the peak of the wild child media frenzy. 00:28:52.339 --> 00:28:54.839 They married quickly and were famous for public 00:28:54.839 --> 00:28:57.400 displays of affection, including wearing vials 00:28:57.400 --> 00:28:59.619 of each other's blood around their necks. The 00:28:59.619 --> 00:29:01.779 marriage ended abruptly three years later, with 00:29:01.779 --> 00:29:03.920 Jolie stating they had totally changed overnight 00:29:03.920 --> 00:29:06.599 and suddenly had just nothing in common. And 00:29:06.599 --> 00:29:10.079 then came the Brangelina phenomenon. Her relationship 00:29:10.079 --> 00:29:12.380 with Brad Pitt began while filming Mr. and Mrs. 00:29:12.460 --> 00:29:15.910 Smith in 2005. She publicly addressed the intense 00:29:15.910 --> 00:29:18.150 media scrutiny about Pitt's previous marriage, 00:29:18.329 --> 00:29:22.130 denying any infidelity. She cited her own father's 00:29:22.130 --> 00:29:25.049 infidelity as a deep barrier, stating she could 00:29:25.049 --> 00:29:27.170 not look at myself in the morning if she had 00:29:27.170 --> 00:29:29.650 done that to another woman. Their 12 -year relationship 00:29:29.650 --> 00:29:32.190 defines celebrity culture globally. They married 00:29:32.190 --> 00:29:34.730 in 2014 but separated two years later, divorcing 00:29:34.730 --> 00:29:37.329 in 2019. And the complexity of the separation 00:29:37.329 --> 00:29:40.190 continues to generate legal activity, notably 00:29:40.190 --> 00:29:42.690 a countersuit filed by Jolie following Pitt's 00:29:42.690 --> 00:29:45.049 lawsuit over their shared winery, which included 00:29:45.049 --> 00:29:47.549 allegations that he physically and verbally abused 00:29:47.549 --> 00:29:50.190 her and their children in 2016. The construction 00:29:50.190 --> 00:29:52.690 of their large global family was central to the 00:29:52.690 --> 00:29:55.049 Brangelina narrative, bringing unprecedented 00:29:55.049 --> 00:29:57.690 attention to international adoption and multiracial 00:29:57.690 --> 00:30:01.160 families. Maddox Chivon, adopted in 2002 from 00:30:01.160 --> 00:30:04.099 Cambodia, was the first, and as she noted, the 00:30:04.099 --> 00:30:07.180 anchor that stabilized her life. Zahara Marley, 00:30:07.319 --> 00:30:09.819 adopted in 2005 from Ethiopia, was the second. 00:30:10.299 --> 00:30:13.339 Pitt legally adopted both children in 2006, leading 00:30:13.339 --> 00:30:16.220 to the use of the Jolie -Pitt surname. The birth 00:30:16.220 --> 00:30:18.819 of their first biological child, Shiloh Nouvelle, 00:30:18.900 --> 00:30:22.539 in Namibia in 2006, was a huge media event. The 00:30:22.539 --> 00:30:24.220 sources confirmed the first photos were sold 00:30:24.220 --> 00:30:27.869 for a then -writer $7 .6 million. to People and 00:30:27.869 --> 00:30:29.950 Hello! magazines, with all proceeds benefiting 00:30:29.950 --> 00:30:32.970 UNICEF. This set a precedent for strategic use 00:30:32.970 --> 00:30:35.109 of paparazzi interests for humanitarian gain. 00:30:35.329 --> 00:30:38.049 Then came Pax Thien, adopted from Vietnam in 00:30:38.049 --> 00:30:41.130 2007. This adoption was notable because Jolie 00:30:41.130 --> 00:30:43.130 initially had to adopt him as a single parent, 00:30:43.230 --> 00:30:45.630 as Vietnamese law barred unmarried couples from 00:30:45.630 --> 00:30:47.509 co -adopting at the time. Right. Pitt adopted 00:30:47.509 --> 00:30:49.930 him the following year. Finally, the twins, Knox 00:30:49.930 --> 00:30:52.430 and Vivienne, were born in Nice, France, in 2008. 00:30:52.750 --> 00:30:55.289 The first photos of the twins sold for a reported 00:30:55.289 --> 00:30:58.789 $14 million. The most expensive celebrity photographs 00:30:58.789 --> 00:31:02.130 ever taken at the time. Ever. With all proceeds 00:31:02.130 --> 00:31:04.970 channeled to the Jolie -Pitt Foundation, this 00:31:04.970 --> 00:31:07.109 strategic control of their image was directly 00:31:07.109 --> 00:31:09.849 tied to funding her global initiatives. And as 00:31:09.849 --> 00:31:12.029 a deeply meaningful recognition of her commitment 00:31:12.029 --> 00:31:15.769 to Cambodia, King Nordham Sihamoni granted her 00:31:15.769 --> 00:31:19.029 Cambodian citizenship in 2005 in honor of her 00:31:19.029 --> 00:31:21.650 humanitarian work there. It underscores how deeply 00:31:21.650 --> 00:31:24.140 integrated she became with the country. This 00:31:24.140 --> 00:31:26.279 health crisis transformed her public persona 00:31:26.279 --> 00:31:28.759 more profoundly than perhaps any film role or 00:31:28.759 --> 00:31:32.319 diplomatic post. In 2013, at age 37, she revealed 00:31:32.319 --> 00:31:34.640 she had undergone a preventative double mastectomy. 00:31:34.740 --> 00:31:37.420 This choice was made due to a defective BRCA1 00:31:37.420 --> 00:31:40.759 gene, which caused an 87 % risk of breast cancer. 00:31:40.960 --> 00:31:43.380 Her family history was tragically clear. Her 00:31:43.380 --> 00:31:45.259 mother and grandmother had both died of ovarian 00:31:45.259 --> 00:31:48.019 cancer. And her aunt, with the same defect, died 00:31:48.019 --> 00:31:50.299 of breast cancer shortly after Jolie's surgery. 00:31:50.809 --> 00:31:53.549 The risk was incredibly high. The mastectomy 00:31:53.549 --> 00:31:56.670 successfully lowered her risk to under 5%. She 00:31:56.670 --> 00:31:59.369 took further preventive action in 2015, undergoing 00:31:59.369 --> 00:32:02.490 a preventive salpingo -oophorectomy, the removal 00:32:02.490 --> 00:32:05.369 of her ovaries and fallopian tubes, due to a 00:32:05.369 --> 00:32:08.890 50 % risk of ovarian cancer, a surgery that triggered 00:32:08.890 --> 00:32:11.660 premature menopause. The revolutionary aspect 00:32:11.660 --> 00:32:13.960 wasn't the surgery itself, but her decision to 00:32:13.960 --> 00:32:16.460 go public with it. She detailed her surgeries 00:32:16.460 --> 00:32:18.779 and her rationale in op -eds published in the 00:32:18.779 --> 00:32:21.539 New York Times, using her platform to speak directly 00:32:21.539 --> 00:32:24.000 to millions of women facing similar choices. 00:32:24.480 --> 00:32:27.000 She explicitly wrote that the surgery did not 00:32:27.000 --> 00:32:29.980 diminish her femininity, stating she felt empowered 00:32:29.980 --> 00:32:32.769 that I made a strong choice. This public disclosure 00:32:32.769 --> 00:32:35.250 created an immediate and massive global reaction, 00:32:35.450 --> 00:32:38.049 instantly dubbed the Angelina Effect by Time 00:32:38.049 --> 00:32:40.650 magazine. Her announcement led to a global and 00:32:40.650 --> 00:32:43.130 sustained surge in BRCA gene testing referrals. 00:32:43.549 --> 00:32:45.829 Referrals tripled in Australia and doubled in 00:32:45.829 --> 00:32:48.450 the UK and Canada. This was a direct, measurable 00:32:48.450 --> 00:32:50.609 impact on public health awareness on a global 00:32:50.609 --> 00:32:53.890 scale. And there was a critical legal and financial 00:32:53.890 --> 00:32:57.119 consequence to her timing. Her high profile advocacy 00:32:57.119 --> 00:33:00.140 coincided with a U .S. Supreme Court ruling that 00:33:00.140 --> 00:33:03.160 invalidated the BRCA gene patents, which had 00:33:03.160 --> 00:33:05.519 previously allowed one company to charge exorbitant 00:33:05.519 --> 00:33:08.410 fees for testing. Her public pressure likely 00:33:08.410 --> 00:33:10.309 contributed to the environment that saw those 00:33:10.309 --> 00:33:13.009 patents invalidated, drastically reducing the 00:33:13.009 --> 00:33:15.210 cost of testing for women worldwide. Her image 00:33:15.210 --> 00:33:17.910 evolution is a study in converting cultural chaos 00:33:17.910 --> 00:33:20.849 into diplomatic capital. She moved from the wild 00:33:20.849 --> 00:33:23.950 child to a global icon of measured sophistication 00:33:23.950 --> 00:33:26.690 and humanitarian strength in a way no other celebrity 00:33:26.690 --> 00:33:29.910 has really achieved. The 1990s and early 2000s 00:33:29.910 --> 00:33:33.180 were defined by the wild child narrative. Tabloids 00:33:33.180 --> 00:33:35.299 constantly covered her reported fascination with 00:33:35.299 --> 00:33:38.339 blood and knives, her drug history, bisexuality, 00:33:38.359 --> 00:33:40.980 and sadomasochism. Even the infamous kiss with 00:33:40.980 --> 00:33:43.500 her brother at the 2000 Oscars fueled incest 00:33:43.500 --> 00:33:45.740 rumors, which she had to publicly dismiss as 00:33:45.740 --> 00:33:47.920 a misunderstanding of their uniquely close emotional 00:33:47.920 --> 00:33:50.440 bond as children of divorce. The critical shift 00:33:50.440 --> 00:33:53.259 began when she became a UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador 00:33:53.259 --> 00:33:56.460 at age 26. She summarized this transformation 00:33:56.460 --> 00:33:59.200 best herself, reflecting on her early years. 00:33:59.740 --> 00:34:01.700 In my early 20s, I was fighting with myself. 00:34:01.960 --> 00:34:04.279 Now I take that punk in me to Washington and 00:34:04.279 --> 00:34:06.779 I fight for something important. She effectively 00:34:06.779 --> 00:34:09.619 redirected her intense energy toward advocacy. 00:34:09.900 --> 00:34:12.440 And the effectiveness of this image overhaul 00:34:12.440 --> 00:34:15.579 is quantifiable. Her likability, or Q score, 00:34:15.860 --> 00:34:19.570 nearly doubled between 2000 and 2006. This is 00:34:19.570 --> 00:34:22.309 astonishing. She managed this radical public 00:34:22.309 --> 00:34:24.429 shift, transforming a reputation built on self 00:34:24.429 --> 00:34:27.150 -destruction into one built on compassion, often 00:34:27.150 --> 00:34:29.250 without using a traditional publicist. Her star 00:34:29.250 --> 00:34:31.650 power and wealth gave her an unparalleled platform. 00:34:32.150 --> 00:34:34.449 Forbes named her the world's most powerful celebrity 00:34:34.449 --> 00:34:37.050 in 2009, and she consistently topped the list 00:34:37.050 --> 00:34:39.889 of highest paid actresses through 2013. She was 00:34:39.889 --> 00:34:42.030 also recognized twice by Time magazine as one 00:34:42.030 --> 00:34:44.130 of the 100 most influential people in the world. 00:34:44.250 --> 00:34:46.269 Her visibility became a currency she could spend 00:34:46.269 --> 00:34:48.829 on policy and diplomacy. Her physical presence 00:34:48.829 --> 00:34:51.230 and aesthetic have always been central to her 00:34:51.230 --> 00:34:54.550 influence. She was routinely cited by major publications 00:34:54.550 --> 00:34:58.190 like Vogue, People, and FHM as the world's most 00:34:58.190 --> 00:35:01.389 beautiful or sexiest woman. Her full lips, in 00:35:01.389 --> 00:35:03.750 particular, are noted as her single most recognizable 00:35:03.750 --> 00:35:06.869 feature. Possessing an iconic status akin to 00:35:06.869 --> 00:35:10.090 Kirk Douglas' chin. Her aesthetic was rebellious 00:35:10.090 --> 00:35:12.929 and highly symbolic. She has an estimated 20 00:35:12.929 --> 00:35:15.590 tattoos, each a personal roadmap of her life 00:35:15.590 --> 00:35:17.949 and beliefs. These include the Latin proverb, 00:35:18.130 --> 00:35:20.269 quote me, nutrite me, distrute what nourishes 00:35:20.269 --> 00:35:23.289 me, destroys me, Buddhist Sanskrit prayers, and 00:35:23.289 --> 00:35:25.190 the geographical coordinates of where she met 00:35:25.190 --> 00:35:27.429 each of her children. And notably, she consciously 00:35:27.429 --> 00:35:30.269 covered up older, less relevant tattoos, like 00:35:30.269 --> 00:35:32.610 the name Billy Bob, reflecting her emotional 00:35:32.610 --> 00:35:35.599 evolution. The sources debate whether her dark 00:35:35.599 --> 00:35:38.579 and intense sexuality was purely an asset. While 00:35:38.579 --> 00:35:40.719 it fueled the success of action films like Lara 00:35:40.719 --> 00:35:42.960 Croft, some critics suggested that it sometimes 00:35:42.960 --> 00:35:45.300 limited her dramatic credibility in conventional 00:35:45.300 --> 00:35:48.280 roles. Despite these perceived limitations, her 00:35:48.280 --> 00:35:50.260 attributes became the gold standard of beauty 00:35:50.260 --> 00:35:52.860 sought after in cosmetic surgery well into the 00:35:52.860 --> 00:35:55.519 2010s. Her fashion evolution provided a clear 00:35:55.519 --> 00:35:58.590 visual marker of her changing status. She began 00:35:58.590 --> 00:36:00.929 with gothic styles, leather, and vampish looks, 00:36:01.050 --> 00:36:03.670 but strategically transitioned to a sophisticated, 00:36:04.030 --> 00:36:06.849 minimalist, old Hollywood glamour later in her 00:36:06.849 --> 00:36:10.190 career. Favoring custom Versace gowns and Grecian 00:36:10.190 --> 00:36:13.179 silhouettes. This shift cemented her status as 00:36:13.179 --> 00:36:16.000 a style icon, famously culminating in the black 00:36:16.000 --> 00:36:18.579 Versace gown with the high slit at the 2012 Academy 00:36:18.579 --> 00:36:21.000 Awards, which remains one of the most significant 00:36:21.000 --> 00:36:23.679 and memed fashion moments in Internet history. 00:36:23.940 --> 00:36:26.380 Looking across the entire breadth of her career, 00:36:26.519 --> 00:36:29.139 the volume and complexity of her work is truly 00:36:29.139 --> 00:36:31.920 staggering. She navigated a youth defined by 00:36:31.920 --> 00:36:34.340 self -destruction and rebellion, channeled that 00:36:34.340 --> 00:36:36.440 intensity into becoming an Oscar -winning actress, 00:36:36.699 --> 00:36:38.980 then used her massive profile as a foundation 00:36:38.980 --> 00:36:41.190 to become a dedicated director. and a serious 00:36:41.190 --> 00:36:43.489 global diplomat. We've seen that her success 00:36:43.489 --> 00:36:46.429 lies in her strategic approach. She didn't just 00:36:46.429 --> 00:36:49.550 donate money. She successfully translated massive 00:36:49.550 --> 00:36:52.550 bankable celebrity status, the Brangelina engine 00:36:52.550 --> 00:36:55.909 and her box office power, into actionable, high 00:36:55.909 --> 00:36:58.309 -level influence. She affected international 00:36:58.309 --> 00:37:01.750 policy with PSVI, established vital legal aid 00:37:01.750 --> 00:37:04.670 infrastructure with Kind, and profoundly altered 00:37:04.670 --> 00:37:06.929 public health awareness with the Angelina effect. 00:37:07.320 --> 00:37:09.780 She truly redefined the scale and scope of what 00:37:09.780 --> 00:37:11.860 a modern movie star's global engagement could 00:37:11.860 --> 00:37:13.679 achieve. It is clear that while the headlines 00:37:13.679 --> 00:37:15.940 may often focus on her relationships and appearances, 00:37:16.179 --> 00:37:18.719 the legacy stack of work from directing war dramas 00:37:18.719 --> 00:37:21.059 based on personal trauma, establishing community 00:37:21.059 --> 00:37:23.699 -focused conservation models in Cambodia, to 00:37:23.699 --> 00:37:25.480 launching a global initiative against sexual 00:37:25.480 --> 00:37:27.619 violence and conflict is immense and enduring. 00:37:28.110 --> 00:37:29.969 Considering her lifelong commitment to fighting 00:37:29.969 --> 00:37:33.309 global conflict, violence, and injustice, does 00:37:33.309 --> 00:37:35.829 her extensive career transition from a successful 00:37:35.829 --> 00:37:39.030 action heroine in roles like Lara Croft to a 00:37:39.030 --> 00:37:41.829 highly effective anti -violence advocate demonstrate 00:37:41.829 --> 00:37:44.489 a powerful practical synergy between art and 00:37:44.489 --> 00:37:47.650 activism where the fame fueled the change? Or 00:37:47.650 --> 00:37:50.010 does the sheer weight and demand of her ongoing 00:37:50.010 --> 00:37:52.349 diplomatic work inevitably limit her capacity 00:37:52.349 --> 00:37:55.710 for continued output in film? What further global 00:37:55.710 --> 00:37:57.809 initiative could her unique leverage influence 00:37:57.809 --> 00:38:00.530 launch next, now that she operates outside the 00:38:00.530 --> 00:38:03.110 official UN structure, focusing on global education 00:38:03.110 --> 00:38:05.489 or international law? It's a question that will 00:38:05.489 --> 00:38:06.949 define the rest of her public life.