You play the title character in this movie, Evelyn Salt. Is she like you?
Every character I play is like me. As you grow up, you discover more sides to yourself. You spend so much time as an actor in your head, that you forget to be free. And I’m the first person to be looking for what freedom means, and to understand what it’s like to be trapped and caged. It took me a while to realise that when I was standing on top of a waterfall, for example, at the edge of Cambodia. I was so happy, and it was so beautiful. I was in the jungle and learning all these different things, like, I got to go dog-sledding in Iceland! Sometimes the people around me are amazing.
You do a lot of your own stunts in Salt. Is that a bit nerve-wracking now that you’re a mother?
I’ve always been ridiculously fearless to a fault. I don’t know where that comes from. I feel happier if I’m living every day to the fullest. You could die tomorrow, so just live. The funny thing about having children is that now I am twice as motivated to do a cool stunt, because my kids will like it. The worst that could happen is that I have an injury, but I’m still free. I had just had two babies, and the push to be physically strong was very welcome at the time.
Sounds tough, but then you’re playing a tough character…
I guess, in essence, she’s somebody who is working for the CIA, who is married and then accused of being KGB. She hears about a programme in Russia where they would take children from an orphanage and raise them secretly in the States to help the KGB infiltrate America. And she’s accused of being one these kids, and the question is whether she is or not.
You seem to play a lot of strong women.
I don’t always. I don’t see them as that. I suppose I’ve been fortunate that I’ve been given good roles, or I get a chance to kind of pull out the gutsier side, or the stronger side, or the more intelligent side. A lot of times you don’t get that chance. But you have to know your strengths as an actress, and I don’t think I could play a weaker character. We’ve actually had that problem in certain films – if I’m being attacked, I have something in me that just wants to fight back, and it’s really hard not to read that on my face.
There were reports that you got hurt filming Salt.
Yeah, I got a nasty bump on the head while filming an action sequence. I went to an area hospital to be checked out, just to be sure I was okay. I was back filming the same afternoon.
You have a lot of tattoos now. Do you always have to cover these up?
I’ve been working with the same make-up artist on 14 different films – she’s one of my closest friends and wants to kill me every time I get a new one.
A tattoo is a personal statement, but do you find it easy to be open and candid with people?
Yeah. I’m just honest, and I like that I don’t have to worry about what I say in life. I don’t have to try to pretend to be somebody else, because I don’t have the time or energy for it. I just wouldn’t want to live that way. Sometimes things are taken the wrong way, and it’s crazy to be misinterpreted. It bothers you sometimes, but there’s also a hell of a lot people don’t know about me. People know maybe one-tenth of my life and because it’s maybe a certain kind of life, they assume that’s everything. But I have my secrets.
Do you think there is too much interest in your personal life, and not enough in what you are doing as an actress? How do you feel about that?
I’ve been very fortunate to have been allowed to do the films that I’ve wanted to do, and they have been responded to. I have felt that people are seeing my work, and also, yeah, there is a bunch of stuff written about me, and there probably always will be because I will continue to be really honest. I’m always learning, and I will fall on my face in front of everyone and not be embarrassed by it. I know that I’m going to make mistakes, and I know that I’m going to be hurt and emotionally seem strange, or I’m going to be really happy. I’m just always going to do it in front of everyone, but I really think that acting is a way of sharing and expressing things. So yeah, the other stuff comes with it, and I hope that people can read through the kind of stuff that bothers me.
What is the most outrageous story you have ever heard about yourself?
There was one item when Billy [Bob Thornton, ex-husband] and I were together that said that I had stabbed him, and then went into a nut house or something. I thought that one was kind of funny. If I wanted to have killed him, I would have killed him (laughs). But you can’t lose your sense of humour about this stuff. Each day I prepare myself for something in the realm of crazy. It’s like, I wake up, and I go, ‘What? I did what? What are you talking about?’
Salt is released in cinemas on July 22.
Angie uncovered
Think you know everything about Angelina Jolie? Think again…
FunereaL Dreams
As a 14 year old, Angie dropped out of acting school to pursue her dreams of being a funeral director, an idea that proved thankfully short-lived.
Blood Relations
When she married British actor Jonny Lee Miller in 1996, she daubed his name on her white wedding shirt in her own blood.
Femme Fatale
Angie’s big passion is knives. Aside from being a keen collector, she’s also apparently an excellent thrower. Rumour has it she hurls them during domestic rows!
