Angelina Jolie opens up about bringing the kids to Cannes and finding “inner peace”
Angelina Jolie is at the Cannes Film Festival to promote her new movie, ‘Kung Fu Panda 2′. She’ll also stick around in beautiful Cannes to walk the red carpet with Brad Pitt when his movie, ‘Tree of Life’ premieres on Monday (can’t wait for those pictures!).
On her kids and the themes of adoption in Kung Fu Panda 2:
“I brought my kids to see the movie and they loved it, they laughed through the whole thing. I wondered whether they would ask me questions about it, but because adoption and birth mothers and orphanage — these are happy words. They’re very used to these discussions and they just felt that much more proud that they’re a little more like Po. So it was lovely.”
On violence in KFP2 and showing her kids violent films:
“You have to know your children. There are children that have a better understanding and are ready earlier than others. But for a film like this, I don’t see this as a film that’s too violent. I think this is actually quite the opposite because the strength, even in the final battle, the inner peace and sending back that negative energy is what wins. My boys are in martial arts classes. Boys are boys and they have a certain kind of energy, naturally. It’s been wonderful to get them focused on martial arts to teach them about the discipline and the respect and the control of their own bodies. I think to ignore that that’s a part of humanity, especially little boys, is wrong. So it’s to help guide them — what’s a positive thing, what’s a good guy, To try not to [use violence] certainly, but if you have to, to defend yourself.”
On bringing the kids to Cannes:
“Yes, we’re all in France. Our whole family is in France and we’re very happy. They’re running around the hotel right now, playing games, and making a giant mess, I’m sure. They’re having a great time. They love it here. Cannes can be overwhelming, and it can be that you meet a lot of friendly faces and have a good laugh and you also get a chance to see some great films. It’s very nice.”
On picking KFP2 to appeal more to her kids:
“We’re all big kids at heart . . . but in many ways I did it for them, and I was excited for them to see it. The trick of a sequel is you have to make it better than the first one, which is hard to do especially when the first one is so successful, and I think we pulled it off.”
On finding inner peace:
“Especially for people that have children. You wake up and if they’re healthy, you know that that’s the most important thing, so you have first of all that peace. They also come with a lot of chaos, but we’re all searching for it. It’s part of the human journey. We all have moments of inner peace and we lose it and we look for it again. But really it’s in knowing the people you love are safe and healthy. That’s the best.”
On her real-life alter ego to all her tough characters:
“Certainly my alter ego is who I am 100 percent, which is a mommy who is changing diapers and coloring all night long. I’m sure I’m very, very soft. I’ve always been drawn to strong characters and I admire strong women, emotionally and physically, just people I feel are fighting for something . . . have a sense of justice and injustice. I’ve been very lucky that I came to my career at a time that women are being allowed these roles and have such great opportunities for these types of characters.”
