Angelina Jolie
[ads1 id=”alignright”]Angelina Jolie is the type of celebrity that you cannot help but admire and respect.
On top of her immense talent and natural good looks, Angelina is one of the kindest, most generous human beings out there.
We all know about her involvement with international charity projects, as well as we know about her numerous adoptions and good deeds. But what about how she got famous in the first place?
1982 – Following her father’s footsteps
In 1982, 6 years old Angelina is featured in one of her father’s movies. This is the first time Angelina appears on camera, and it would soon become an common occurrence.
For those of you who are unaware, Angelina’s father is none other than actor John Voight, the person who first introduced Angelina to movies by featuring the 6 years old in his ‘Lookin’ to Get Out’ movie.
1995 – Going for the big screen
Angelina Jolie was 20 years old in 1995, a year in which she got her first break as an actress by landing a role in the movie ‘Hackers’ with British actor Lee Miller. These two had such a good connection that it later turned in a relationship, a relationship that would push them to get married by the end of the year.
This marriage wouldn’t work unfortunately, and Angelina would divorce Miller eventually, by the end of 1999.
1998 – Angelina goes both ways
After filming ‘Foxfire’, Angelina starts a relationship with costar Jenny Shimizu, which is also the time when she realized that she was bisexual. Angelina later said that before meeting Jenny, she had no idea that she could have feelings for another woman. On a side note, 1998 was also the year in which Angelina won her first Golden Globe award.
2000 – A year of major events
The year 2000 was a very active year for Angelina, both professionally and personally. First of all, she put in one hell of a performance in ‘Girl Interrupted’, a movie in which she plays the role of a sociopath called Lisa. At the event in which she received an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress, Angelina shocks everybody by kissing her brother on the lips.
By mid-2000, she checks into the UCLA Medical Center’s Neuropsychiatric Institute after suffering a nervous breakdown. Soon after her release, she married Billy Bob Thornton, her costar in ‘Pushing Tin’.
2001 (early) – Lara Croft and her family
2001 was the year in which ‘Lara Croft: Tomb Raider’ was forged, with Angelina Jolie playing the main role. The movie itself is an adaptation of a popular video game, and a movie which boosted Angelina’s image of sex-symbol even further.
Angelina’s father, actor Jon Voight, also makes an appearance in this movie, a fact that allows them to strengthen their bond. Her Lara Croft character required various stunts to be made, stunts that were 80% of the time done by Angelina herself.
2001 (late) – Blood and Goodwill
By mid 2001, Angelina confesses in an interview that she and her husband both wear vials of each other’s blood around their neck, a practice that means more to Angelina than diamonds and expensive jewelry.
Trying to research her role in ‘Beyond Borders’, Angelina takes two goodwill trips to Sierra Leone, where she meets war victims. While doing this, she writes things down into her journals, journals that will later be published as ‘Notes From My Travels’, before being appointed goodwill ambassador for the UNHCR.
2002 – The good mother
In the beginning of 2002, Angelina adopts a baby boy from Cambodia, a boy that she named ‘Maddox’. By only putting her name on the adoption papers, it becomes pretty obvious that her marriage with Thornton isn’t going that well, a fact that will be confirmed later when the two part ways in 2003.
Also in 2002, her father makes an appearance on ‘Access Hollywood’ in which he claims that her daughter’s mental problems are getting worse and she needs help. Even though her mother made a statement claiming that there is nothing medically wrong with Angelina, she and her father become very distant afterwards.
2003 – A famous tattoo
In 2003, Angelina travels to Thailand, where she gets a Buddhist prayer tattooed on her left shoulder blade. This tattoo was made using traditional Thai methods, and is supposed to provide spiritual protection for her son Maddox.
This tattoo is quite obvious yet pleasing from an aesthetic point of view, which adds a lot of personality to Angelina’s public image.
2004 – Brangelina
One of the most renowned couples in history begins its journey in April 2004, the incredible romance between Angelina and Brad Pitt. After working together in ‘Mr. & Mrs. Smith’, Brad and Angelina develop a strong bond with each other, a bond that will later lead to a pretty successful relationship. Angelina also earns her pilot’s license in December 2004, an accomplishment that she mainly owes to her desire to impress her son Maddox.
2005 – Brangelina going at it
It was by mid 2005 that Angelina’s relationship with Brad became official, especially after Brad was spotted in Kenya with Maddox and Angelina. In late June 2005, Angelina adopts a young girl named Zahara Marley while touring Ethiopia, although the paperwork wasn’t finished until July 6.
On a more darker side, the Brangelina couple will also be spotted in November while visiting Pakistan, a country where a massive earthquake caused the death of over 73,000 people. In December 2005, Brad Pitt petitions to adopt Angelina’s son and daughter, thus becoming their legal guardian in an official manner.
2006 – Siloh Nouvel
In May 2006, Brangelina’s new baby, Siloh Nouvel is born in Namibia. This entire ordeal creates an entire media circus, with PEOPLE magazine finally ending it a couple of days later when they published the first photos of the newborn. It was the same magazine that gave the Jolie-Pitt family the title of ‘World’s most attractive family’, which is hard to dispute.
2007 – Ups and Downs
In January 2007, Angelina’s mother Marcheline Bertrand dies after a long battle with cancer. In March, Angelina adopts 3 years old Pax Thien from an orphanage in Vietnam, a process she must go through on her own, as Vietnamese law doesn’t allow unmarried couples to adopt.
She will eventually ask a California court to change the last name of her newly adopted son to Jolie-Pitt. In May 2007, Angelina finds herself on PEOPLE’s most beautiful list for the fifth time, even though by this point she prefers people to recognize her for her charitable work.
2008 – The Twins
In February 2008, Angelina announces that she is pregnant with twins during a joint interview with Jack Black. By this time, her family consisted of 5 children already. In the summer of 2008, Angelina receives a Best Actress Oscar nomination for her role in Changeling, a role that also helped her to reach number 1 on Hollywood Reporter’s highest paid actresses list.
In July, the couple finally welcome their twins, a boy they named Knox Keon, and a girl that they named Vivienne Marcheline.
2011 – Angelina makes her debut as a director
By directing ‘In the Land of Blood and Honey’, a love story that unfolds during the Bosnian War. Angelina says that she had a lot of fun as an actress in the past, but being a director, especially for a movie set against the backdrop of important international affairs, is very challenging.
Although the movie didn’t do that well after all, Angelina claims that it was a perfect opportunity for her to get a better understanding of what directors go through.
2012 – Brangelina Engaged
Even though they have been together since 2004, it was in 2012 that the couple finally announced their engagement, and this was only after she was spotted wearing a ring.
Brad apparently went through a lot of trouble for that impressive ring, a ring that was designed by world-renowned jeweler Robert Procop. Brangelina had been a thing for so long at this point, that nobody was really surprised when these two decided to announce their engagement.
2013 – Angelina’s struggle with cancer
In May 2013, The New York Times publishes an article in which Angelina reveals that she went through a double mastectomy to prevent the development of breast cancer. Doctors told Angelina that she had an 87% to develop breast cancer, which why she decided in favor of the procedure.
She claims that her implants don’t make her feel any less of a woman, as she feels quite empowered by her choice.
