People

Angelina Jolie's Personal Missions around the World

UN Goodwill Ambassador
Angelina Jolie biography


Academy Award and three-time Golden Globe winner ANGELINA JOLIE is proving to be one of Hollywood's most talented leading actresses.

Her most recently released film is "Mr. and Mrs. Smith", co-starring Brad Pitt. Jolie has several other films in current release, including Oliver Stone's epic "Alexander" with Colin Farrell, Val Kilmer, Rosario Dawson, Jared Leto and Anthony Hopkins; as well as action/ adventure "Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow" with Jude Law and Gwyneth Paltrow. She lent her voice to animated feature "Shark Tale", directed by the creators of "Shrek" and also featuring the voices of Will Smith, Robert DeNiro and Jack Black.

Jolie also starred in the Warner Bros. thriller, "Taking Lives", with Ethan Hawke. In 2003, she played the lead role in the action/adventure, "Lara Croft: Tomb Raider -- The Cradle of Life", the sequel to the 2001 box-office smash, and portrayed a relief worker for the United Nations in the provocative drama, "Beyond Borders".

In 2001, she starred in director Simon West's "Tomb Raider", and "Original Sin" opposite Antonio Banderas for "Gia" writer/director Michael Cristofer. The previous year, she was seen along with co-stars Nicolas Cage and Robert Duvall as car thieves committing their final heist in the smash hit, "Gone in 60 Seconds" for producer Jerry Bruckheimer. She was also in the romantic comedy, "Life or Something Like It".

Jolie's portrayal of a mental patient in "Girl, Interrupted" garnered her an Academy Award, her third Golden Globe Award, a Broadcast Film Critics Award, ShoWest's Supporting Actress of the Year, and a Screen Actors Guild Award for Best Supporting Actress. The film, based on the true story by Susanna Kayson, was directed by James Mangold and co-starred Winona Ryder.

Prior to that, she played a rookie police officer opposite Denzel Washington's veteran detective in the thriller, "The Bone Collector", directed by Phillip Noyce. She also co-starred in Mike Newell's "Pushing Tin" with Billy Bob Thornton and John Cusack. "Playing by Heart" earned her The National Board of Review's award for Breakthrough Performance. This character-driven drama directed by Willard Carroll featured an all-star ensemble cast starring Sean Connery, Gena Rowlands, Madeline Stowe, Ellen Burstyn, Gillian Anderson and Dennis Quaid.

The HBO film "Gia" earned Jolie critical praise as well as a Golden Globe Award, a Screen Actors Guild Award and an Emmy nomination for her portrayal of the supermodel who died of AIDS. Jolie also received an Emmy nomination for her role opposite Gary Sinise in director John Frankenheimer's "George Wallace", a period epic for TNT about the controversial governor from Alabama. The film earned Jolie her first Golden Globe Award and a Cable Ace nomination for her portrayal of George Wallace's second wife, Cornelia.

Jolie also co-starred with David Duchovny and Timothy Hutton in director Andy Wilson's film "Playing God" and prior to that she starred in the Hallmark Hall of Fame's four-hour miniseries presentation, "True Women". Directed by Karen Arthur, it was based on Janice Woods Windle's best-selling historical novel. Jolie also starred in Annette Haywood-Carter's much-acclaimed "Foxfire" and Iain Softley's "Hackers".

A member of the famed MET Theatre Ensemble Workshop, Jolie trained at the Lee Strasberg Theatre Institute and has also studied with Jan Tarrant in New York and Silvana Gallardo in Los Angeles.

On August 27, 2001, she was named Goodwill Ambassador for the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), accepting the responsibility of meeting with and advocating for the protection of refugees on five continents.

Detailed information regarding many of Jolie's activities as UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador can be found at: www.unhcr.org/goodwill