Angelina's mighty role

How do you think being a mother has changed you as an actress?

Angelina Jolie: It makes me want to work a lot less! If you noticed, the last few films I've done have been shorter and father apart. I think Good Shepherd I was on for five weeks. And the last two films were two years apart, so I don't work as much now.

You're almost as well known for your humanitarian work, as your acting. Do you ever feel overwhelmed by all the bad stuff going on in the world?

Angelina Jolie: Yes, you do get to the point where you realise you can't help everybody. But you do the best you can, with those you can help.

A Mighty Heart

What made you want to do this film?

Angelina Jolie: Even the first day of shooting, I was very hesitant and very scared to do this movie. I didn't think I would be good enough to pull it off. But I felt it was such an important thing to do and I believe very much in the message behind this story and the people in it.

Were there things with this film that you just didn't want to know or see, like the be-heading video?

Angelina Jolie: I would never go near that video, just out of respect for Mariane (Pearl) and for Danny. I think any acknowledgement of things like that tends to encourage more of it. Any attention paid to that kind of propaganda, is what causes future incidents like that.

There's a moment in the movie where you scream at the realisation that your husband has been be-headed. How did you summon up that emotion?

Angelina Jolie: You stay in a very strange state of mind. There are certain things that make you emotional and that remind you of the saddest things in your life. I tried not to think of any one thing but I'm sure images of my own mum, who was sick at the time, and thoughts of anything happening to people that I love, you know, just all of that.

What did you learn about yourself when working on A Mighty Heart?

Angelina Jolie: I think I learned to be more tolerant. I do think of myself as an open and tolerant person but I am quick to anger. I don't know if I would have had the strength to go through what she (Mariane Pearl) did. Especially when she went public, saying that there are Pakistanis being killed too and suffering, just like her husband. I couldn't understand how she could say that. So I learned from her the importance of having dialogue and trying to take the higher ground to find solutions. I've learned that, and that's a big lesson.

Any thoughts about Oscars for this movie?

Angelina Jolie: Oh, please don't bring that up. All that kind of stuff is fun, nice and sort of the icing on the cake. But if we're never acknowledged for awards, it means nothing because we made the film we cared about. That's all that matters.

Are you and Brad going to do any more movies together?

Angelina Jolie: I don't know. We were joking before that nobody's going to watch the children if we both go to work at the same time. But yes, maybe, if we can find something.