rose

CR: Sage but certainly not her talent. She already has two back to back Golden Globe awards for her work in television films. One, in 1997, for her portrayal of Cornelia Wallace, the First Wife of the former Alabama Governor. The other, in 1998, for another real-life-portrait, Gia Carangi, the drug-addicted model that died of AIDS. Since then, Jolie has been building a body of work in feature films that have earned her a reputation as one of Hollywood's hottest young actors. In November, she starred opposite Denzel Washington in the box office hit The Bone Collector. She is currently receiving critical acclaim for her performance in Girl, Interrupted, costarring Winona Ryder. I am very, very pleased to have her on this program. Welcome.

AJ: Thank you.

CR: (he giggles)

AJ: Very, very happy to be here.--I watch the show all the time.

CR: Oh, thank you. I--I didn't know you lived in New York.

AJ: I didn't know you lived in New York.

CR: Too bad.

AJ: Yeah, I'll be here knocking on the door. I was just saying before it started rolling--I was--I was trying--I was trying to tell them how I don't have friends here and I don't have anybody to go to dinner with, so--so--I love--I love this--I love watching your show--so--so--

CR: Did you love the role of Lisa--once you read that--did you look at

AJ: I did--

CR: --that and say--

AJ: --I had-- It's obviously a dream for an actress to have just so much to work with--but--I've never played a character I didn't--it's tough cuz she's a--the ba-- she's--she's apparently the bad person or the person that should be--you know--corralled--but I--I didn't feel she was--in many ways and I felt for her--and--like--and which--I've never been able to play someone I didn't feel was redeemable--somehow. I read the book like five years ago and I picked it up after I read the script and I underlined everything Lisa. And I was obsessed with--with, uh--her brutal honesty and her just need to--to live and uh you know, so--yeah--I got--I have this--this funny tattoo that I got right after--right after Lisa--my mom--came with me--Thanks mom.

CR: This is--this is one of several, is it not?

AJ: Yes--but--but--this one was with mom so it was just the greatest thing in the world--but was--uh--it's, uh--A Prayer For The Wild At Heart Kept In Cages--

CR: Yeah--

AJ: it's Tennessee Williams and it's, uh

CR: And what's this one--

AJ: Uh--it's--uh--an H my--my brother's middle name is Haven--

CR: And there are what six in all?

AJ: Uh--something like that--

CR: Yeah--

AJ: Six or nine--

CR: And why--and why do you do this?

AJ: Uhm I don't have many on places you can see most of them are--are in the areas that--that--you know--can't do nude scenes cuz (they both laugh)

CR: Yeah--

AJ:--but--uh--uh--just--just a few that are just reminders--you know--like these--like Lisa was really personal to me and--it was hard--long time ago--I--I--it was so hard to let Gia go--(slaps her mike) sorry--so hard to let Gia go--so hard to let Lisa go and I--

CR: It was hard to let Gia go-?

AJ: It was hard to let a lot of them go cuz they were kind of--they were--they became friends of mine and they were parts of me and--and I thought a long time ago that it was kind of--exercising parts of me and just getting rid of them and working through them and growing up and--and I realized that--I'm going to keep them and they're all a part of me and It's made me really happy and I was--I just--I was missing Lisa, I think--and--and then having this--and how with my mom--having this moment that I'll always remember with her kind of picking out and--and talking to the other people--she was--in the tattoo parlor kind of offering everybody drinks and seeing if she should go get anybody a sandwich. She was brilliant.

CR: Uh, you're close to her?

AJ: Very. CR: Yeah. AJ: Very.

CR: Uh--and have an influence on you doing what you do--or--not?

AJ: Yeah, she, uh--she studied at Strasberg--my--my parents--my mom got married to--met my dad when she was probably twenty--

CR: Yeah. AJ: And she was uh--so they--she had children and then they separated twenty-five and so she--she's--was--you know my dad--it--he was great it--he--you know--they had an agreement that really he wanted her to be a mom which--is--like not giving enough credit for a really hard job.

CR: Yeah, that is. AJ: And uh--and that's--what--you know she's--she's done with life--she's raised me--my brother and my dad's uh--always been there--always been never--never not in my life--and--and-- CR: But because he was an actor he--had to be away.

AJ: He was. Yeah. So, and, so, she tried to study after--when we were little kids but--always wanted to be an actress--uhm--but never had the career--cuz she was raising us--but she raised me in that kind of really free way--where she'd--she'd always--uh--she used to have this thing when I'd cry and she'd say "Let me see your soul" and I used to love this so I have this kind of--whenever I'm sad I'm reaching out to everybody going, "See--I'm in pain"--you know--so--you know--she'd--"What are you saying?--What're you thinking?--What're you--what're you feeling?"--and so--

CR: But has being an actress been almost therapeutic then--then and--

AJ: Yeah-- CR: --and cathartic for you?

AJ: Yeah, I'm-- CR: I mean, you can invest--you can both find parts of yourself through giving expression

AJ: I had--I had done The Bone Collector before before uh--before Girl, Interrupted--and-- and she's--she's so kind of reserved and she's so from the heart--she's somebody--I--huh--I admire--Amelia--my character--but--she wasn't free and she--was obviously going after-- these people that had--maybe these impulses or were sinners or the bad people and--and uh she didn't know how to make people laugh--didn't have sense of humor about herself and--and then I broke out--was able to breathe with Lisa who--sociopaths usually become serial killers that's just--just--and it was so odd to discover that cuz I had jumped into the thing I was hunting for three months--and this completely opposite side but--

CR: Wait a minute, I don't understand you--did you--

AJ: The--uh--the--the--the other character--the--

CR: Oh. AJ:--the cop-- CR: Right. Right.

AJ: --I was playing-- CR: Right. AJ: --was hunting--CR: Right.

AJ:--a serial killer--

CR: Right.

AJ:--and so--so Lisa was--was this other--was the exact opposite and--and I so much was--I was questioning so much in my life about things, you know--what I was capable of--and--and Amelia allowed me to believe I was capable of things--and I understood what love was--with her--and--uh--Lisa--I'm--I don't have many friends--I don't have many girlfriends--I don't understand--I just don't understand the world--

CR: You, as a human being, don't have many girlfriends?

AJ: Well, I don't--I'm not in really one place enough time to really be kind of a great, great friend--I think--I mean I'm a great friend to--obviously I have a few great--to everybody I'd like--I'd like to be friends with everybody, so--uhm--but Lisa-- just she--she's has energy and this fire and there are a few people that--obviously are turned off by her and very put--you know--but--there are a few people that come up to me and said--come up--you--she just had this--you know--they--they--there there's a fire that--that I like to see in people and I like to encourage it so--I don't judge people, so I don't think they judge me so I have this freedom of--I think we're all a little crazy, we all, you know, make fools of ourselves, and we all--

CR: I'm not very judgmental, either--I'm not--

AJ: Yeah, so it just makes you completely free.

CR: Yeah, exactly, I mean, I just--Uhm, this notion of wanting it. Did it then come to you or did you go after this role of Lisa, having read the--

AJ: I went after it.

CR: --book. You went after it.

AJ: Yeah. CR: You, personally, or are those people that work for--

AJ: "Those people"!

CR: Yeah.

AJ: That one person who's out there.

CR: Yeah. AJ: Uhm. CR: Did you--did you pick up the phone and say to--Winona or whoever else might be--

AJ: No. I--I actually--got--I had--

CR: Cuz she's executive producing which is--

AJ: I had gotten a call from Winona about a year before--when she was thinking of it--before I'd done--I think she--she had told me she was happy when Gia came out because she was happy that she had--that I could get in that door and--and fight and kind of--you know--cuz she was thinking about me for it--but I got a call a long time ago from Winona Ryder about this--thing--Girl--and I thought it was a prank call--I was so sure that somebody was calling me--I was like uhm--Winona Ryder--

CR: Sure.

AJ: --then I called her and I didn't know what--you know--but--I didn't uh--you know--she was in the process of it and she didn't--she was telling me she really couldn't--couldn't be the--so she was gonna step back and let the director and producers really pick the actress and that she--you know couldn't--couldn't really decide--it was--it was too uh--but she obviously liked me and other people and--and uh was gonna let them--let it happen--and you know--she--she--was really wonderful with me and--

CR: So, what happened?

AJ: I--I uh--I had an audition. And--and I met with the director. And then I went in and I--you know, read my little scenes and came in and--after begging at the door--kind of let me in the door again--let me try--let me give it--show you what I can try to do.

CR: Is there anything else we should say about Lisa--Lisa before we show--seeing--scene--this scene we're going to see is when she arrived bla--back at Clayware and she is upset to find--

AJ: Uh, yeah the--this--the--the original name was--was not Jamie--was this is--was my--my brother's name is Jamie and this is her--uhmbluh--she's coming back in--somebody's missing-- this person from the ward and some--and wondering what happened to them and s--you know thinking maybe people didn't look after--take care of the person she cared about--and to me--I picked the name that meant the most to me in the world, which is my brother--so it's his name--so that kind of helped me--but this--this is--

CR: Okay, roll tape. Here it is.

(Clip)