Angelina Jolie’s Children Made Her Rethink Doing Action Film Stunts
Angelina Jolie has been known for doing quite a few stunts in her action films. But after becoming a mother, she wondered if she was better off leaving the stunts to the professionals.
Angelina Jolie wanted to remain healthy for her family
Jolie was well known for being a bit of a daredevil. The action star felt it was important to perform her own stunts in feature films. But as the years went on, Jolie eventually found herself becoming a mother. Afterwards, the actor didn’t get the same thrills doing action scenes that she used to.
“I did have a moment where I thought about my life. I had the babies about a year before filming and then I took 12 months off. This action scene was part of my big return. I was hanging off that ledge thinking, ‘What am I doing up here? I’m someone’s mother,'” Jolie once recalled to the Chicago Sun (Contact Music).
Jolie’s change of priorities meant she was less willing to risk her safety for the sake of her kids.
“I lost my mother not so long ago and there is something about the years passing where you really appreciate life more each day. The amazing part is you have a history with the people you love. And it becomes important for you to stay healthy and age gracefully,” she said. “I want to see my grandkids. I want to see my children grown and spend the years with Brad. I want everything.”
Angelina Jolie once did stunts that even her stunt doubles were afraid to do
Before Jolie decided to tone it down, many considered her a natural at performing stunts. She was so good at doing them because the actor had little fear.
“I’ve always been ridiculously fearless” she once told Cinema. “I feel alive when I’m afraid. And you know what? The worst thing that happens is I die. At least I lived.”
Jolie showed how fearless she was in the action thriller Tomb Raider. As Lara Croft, the actor was doing action sequences that frightened the film’s director Simon West, and even her own stunt double.
“Angelina was doing triple back flips on the set. She was doing the bunjee jumps from 50 feet up in the air. She was laughing. The stunt doubles were clinging to their safety ropes,” West said. “For one scene where Lara surfs through the air on a thin log, her stunt double refused to do it. Angie said ‘no problem’. Within a week, she was going, ‘I love it! Let’s go again!'”
But even back then, doing so many physical stunts could take their toll. And she found herself asking the same questions she’d ask later on after having kids.
“Of course, at times I said, ‘I’m an actor. What am I doing? Please, somebody get me back to my hotel room,'” Jolie remembered. “One night, I was sitting in my bathtub with all my bruises and cuts. I was crying and thinking, ‘What am I doing? I can’t pull this off? I can’t even keep the guns straight. I keep hitting myself with her stupid braid. But after a few months of pushing yourself, you’re suddenly swinging on a bungee rope and realizing, ‘Wow, I’m not hitting the wall.'”
Angelina Jolie did action movies whenever she needed to feel strong
It wasn’t just fearlessness that attracted Jolie to action films. She considered them therapeutic as well. Speaking with The Hollywood Reporter, Jolie discussed how action films helped her reclaim her strength at times she felt weak.
“Action movies, for me, have not just been about jumping around,” Jolie said. “I love to do that. But I tend to do them when I need to feel strong. So when my mother passed away, I did Wanted, because I thought, ‘I’m gonna cry and cover my head with a sheet, or I’m gonna do an action movie.’ When I had the twins and I had been in a nightgown for months, I decided I would do Salt , you know? So you go through some things.”
