Angelina, Brad: Hard-to-find quiet time
By Ruben V. Nepales
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 00:24:00 10/11/2008
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LOS ANGELES, California—We continue sharing excerpts of our latest press con with Angelina Jolie, who was gracious and candid, as usual:
The actress is compelling in Clint Eastwood’s “The Changeling,” which is based on a true story of how a woman, Christine Collins, dealt with a kidnapped son and challenged a corrupt Los Angeles police department in 1928 Los Angeles.
Angelina, who tends to refer to Brad simply as “he,” talked about the challenge of finding quiet moments with him in the face of the couple’s having a brood of six, among other topics. At the interview held recently in New York, the beautiful, fulfilled mother updated us about her kids, some of whom she mentioned by their nicknames: Mad (Maddox), Pax, Zee Zee (Zahara), Shiloh, Knox and Viv (Vivienne).
Now that you and Brad have six kids, how do you and Brad find the time for just the two of you?
It’s been the hardest thing to find—some time alone. Because even if we lock our door, they (the kids) knock. We often try to go to the bath together at the end of the night, where we sit and talk. They hear the water and want to jump in, so yeah, everybody ends up being there. But. it’s fun and lovely.
Twins
Tell us more about the twins.
Knox and Viv are the sweetest little things—to see them together is just something else. They lie down next to each other a lot. They respond to each other—more so now. They’re starting to smile a lot. It’s funny that Knox looks like Brad and Viv looks a bit like me. They’re good babies. We’re very lucky. The trick in having six is, once you pass three or four, it gets so crazy, anyway, that there’s just more chaos—and it’s okay.
So, you’re not done yet?
No.
Do the twins have sleeping patterns now, so you get to have a sleeping routine yourself? Are they developing distinct personalities?
They are pretty much on schedule. They’re a little jet-lagged right now, but they pretty much eat every three hours. That’s why I have breaks in my day (laughing). They are developing distinct personalities, but it’s so hard to know early on. Knox is very chill. He likes music. He’s very relaxed. Viv’s more aggressive and loud. But, they are very sweet. There’s that great thing where you wonder, how it almost seemed lonely for one because you got them together. They always have each other. They can look at each other. They put their hands on each other. It’s just beautiful!
How closely did you identify with your role in “The Changeling,” especially since you’ve experienced being the subject of character assassination yourself?
What she was dealing with was so different. Would I have survived 1928? Because a woman’s place then was so different. To be aggressive, she still had to be very careful and walk a very fine line. She had to be very feminine and apologetic. I don’t know how good I would have been at finding the balance if something happened to my kid.
People have called me a liar or bad. Fortunately, I was raised by a mom who loved me so much and made me comfortable with myself. I’m not a liar. I know I’m a decent person. I can go to bed at night knowing that I’m all right no matter what anybody says about me.
How emotionally painful was it for you to do those scenes where your character was thrown in a mental hospital?
Clint is such a wonderful director. He helped me get through this so nicely. Any time spent being confined is a horrible thing. Because this film is based on a real story, in scenes like those, you reflect on the fact that this really happened to somebody. When I would do that, often I would catch myself and think, “God, this woman lost her kid.” She was trying to deal with a system that was so against her. They put her in this place where she was questioned. My God, that must have been such a nightmare! This woman, Christine Collins, is a hero of mine. She’s an amazing woman and mom. I was so honored to play her.
How do you deal with fabrications printed in some publications?
Somebody told me I was depressed. My life is being with my family. My family is so real, close and happy. I wake up, and I want to make sure everybody’s healthy. I don’t care about anything else. You’ve also known me for a long time. It has been years of people saying things about me, so I do tend to ignore it.
Most people know that most things are completely made up. But, we are worried about the kids getting a hold of the Internet and seeing some stories. It’s hard to explain—and it makes no sense to explain! There’s no good reason for it. We’ll see. I’ll tell you how it goes if I do.
How do you stay gracious and centered?
I had a great mom who had a grace about her that I’ve tried to study and learn from. She was the kind of person who loved being a mom. I don’t wish for anything other than that. My kids are first. They bring me so much joy and peace. I can have the worst day in the world and you can say horrible things about me, but I’ll go home and my little kids think I’m great. They love me, and they come to me when they get hurt. I feel like the most important person in the world—and I’ve got that! Anybody who has love in their life has that.
What do you tell your children about the photographers hounding them all the time?
We usually say that mommy and daddy make movies—that there’s nothing special or different about us. It’s just the fact that we happen to make movies, so people take pictures. It’s one of those things that you can’t really explain. Zahara hates photography. It makes her very nervous when she’s in the car. A lot of people say to us that she looks very serious. It’s because she’s actually upset when there’s a camera near her. She doesn’t like it. Shiloh tends to wave (laughter).
But, it scares them sometimes. We don’t want them in situations where they’re in a park and they’re going to get too many people around them. I wish there was a law that restricts the proximity that a photographer can have to the children. You have a long enough lens. I don’t understand why they can get this close to a kid’s face in a stroller. It doesn’t make sense to me, because I think it’s psychologically damaging for the children! But, that’s another fight.
How do you establish a sense of home for the children when you go to a new place?
They have special things they take with them. The trick with us is, we do have places that we consider home. We have most of our stuff, our books there. We tell them that this is home. We always come back to this. But, they’re really great travelers. We travel so much, and we’re such a big family that they immediately take over an empty room and it’s their home. They fill it up with certain things that we know they love. We try to have those there, but we also don’t want to buy a bunch of new things every time we go to a place. They bring a bag which they’ve packed with whatever they choose to bring to the next place. We have a lot of the same storybooks and things like that.
Mad has a lot of little army men and military planes. Pax has rope and little stuffed monkeys. Zee Zee has a blanket that was once pink, but is now the dirtiest shade of brown you can imagine. Shiloh has little silkies. They’re like these square things with silk on them that she has to have. Knox and Viv don’t have their things yet, but I’m sure you’ll hear about it when they do.
What do you do with all the airline mileage points that you earn with your frequent travels?
I donate them. There are different organizations like The Jane Goodall Institute that you can donate your miles to.
Brad donated money to help fight Proposition 8 in California’s November ballot that would overturn that state’s Supreme Court decision to legalize same-sex marriage. Your thoughts?
We talked about it. I supported it. That was his. One night, he said he wanted to do it. That was his initiative. I think it’s wonderful, so I’m very proud of him!
Brad said sometime ago that you will get married when restrictions on who can marry whom are dropped. If Proposition 8 is defeated, wouldn’t that put you on the spot and you would have to get married?
Ask Brad (laughter).
Does moving to France have something to do with going back to your mother’s French roots? What do you consider as your roots, considering you’re a citizen of the world?
My mother (the late Marcheline Bertrand) always loved France. She always wanted my children to speak French. When I decided to have babies, the first children without her, being in France was comforting. And there was something about it that I knew she would have loved.
Roots
But, I don’t feel I have roots. I’m also American-Indian. I’m also Czechoslovakian. I believe Jon (Voight, her father) is German-Czech, so I’m a mix of many things—like most Americans. I feel I have roots all over the place, and certainly, so do my children. I don’t have one place that I’m looking for, or that I feel closer to.
Are you planning to return to work?
I’m looking at something at the end of February, but there was a big discussion in the house—should I go back to work at all? It would have been over a year since I last worked. But, he was just wonderfully supportive and said, “We’re here, and we’re great. The babies will be sitting up and hanging out in your trailer. It’s going to be all right. The kids are at school, and they will come visit.” We’re trying to balance it all.
E-mail rvnepales_5585@yahoo.com and read his blog, “The Nepales Report,” on http://blogs.inquirer.net/nepalesreport.
Maintaining leading-lady status in Hollywood requires more than starring roles. 
