A former fashion model who was once “so insecure about her looks and unhappy with her life that she regularly cut herself”, she has transformed herself in glamorous Lara Croft from Tomb Raider series and later into an adventurous heroine in Mr. & Mrs. Smith. Having become a living cover page story thanks to her affair and marriage with Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie is constantly in limelight.

Angelina Jolie, a former fashion model who was once “so insecure about her looks and unhappy with her life that she regularly cut herself”, she has transformed herself in glamorous Lara Croft from Tomb Raider series and later into an adventurous heroine in Mr. & Mrs. Smith. Having become a living cover page story thanks to her affair and marriage with Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie is constantly in limelight.

So, is the never-ending gaze of the media really difficult to cope with?

"It really is," Angelina Jolie admits and clarifies: "It's about money (for the paparazzi and periodicals). It isn't even about curiosity. I can understand curiosity. You know, how someone looks, or spotting somebody famous, let alone two famous people. I can relate. . . . When I was growing up, I was close to fame, through my father, when he was there, and I'd be curious to see stars — people he knew or worked with.

"When Jane Fonda would show up, I'd always want to see what she looked like. I found her fascinating. "Well, being a woman, she looked a certain way — that is, she was beautiful, had a beautiful face and figure. I think my father had a crush on her, too. But it's always more interesting to see how women look, because we can vary our hair and clothes . . . all a man can pretty much do is a beard," she says and giggles. "But beyond that, it was Jane's courage and convictions, her standing up and speaking at a time when she was supposed to just keep quiet and look like a successful actress — that's what I admired about her then."

Today, Angelina Jolie is a philanthropist, a human rights activist, particularly active in the struggle for children and women's rights. Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt have one own child and also adopted Maddox (from Cambodia), Pax (from Vietnam) and Zahara (from Ethiopia) and undergo the legal process of giving them the surname Jolie-Pitt. Moreover, Jolie and Pitt were going to adopt a child from Russia, but reportedly ended up with picking up a boy to be adopted near Prague, Czech Republic.

"We order a plate of food at a restaurant, and it may be overpriced, but too often the portion's too big — more than one person needs — encouraging obesity, which is a luxury, but also a negative condition," she blurts out partway through a long monologue on the issue. "And then we leave half or more of what's on the plate, to be thrown away, when women and children — people — are starving in so many countries."