The career-changing role Angelina Jolie tried to turn down: “I didn’t want to do it”

Like many actors, Angelina Jolie was born into Hollywood, but her rise to fame was considerably different to your average nepo-baby. Born the daughter of Jon Voight, the actor appeared alongside him in Lookin’ to Get Out when she was seven, but for most of her childhood she was largely estranged from the star. 

Instead, Jolie had a rather difficult upbringing, taking to drugs, self-harm, and even hiring a hitman to kill her on one occasion. Her teenage years were tough, but she soon found solace in acting, and it was actually a role that she was initially hesitant to take on that she believes helped to lead her to recovery.

During the 1990s, she appeared in a few movies like Cyborg 2, Without Evidence, Hackers, and Love Is All There Is, before taking home a Golden Globe for the television film George Wallace in 1997. However, it was her next role, another television film, that proved to be a turning point for Jolie.

She was offered the part of Gia Carangi in the HBO movie Gia, which told the real-life story of the iconic supermodel who died of AIDs-related illnesses when she was just 26 years old. Like Carangi, Jolie could relate to her use of hard drugs, such as cocaine and heroin, and it seemed as though taking on the role would potentially hit too close to home. By this point in her life, Jolie hadn’t fully recovered from the drug abuse and mental health issues she had been grappling with, so to play Carangi would certainly be an intense job.

The actor revealed to Variety, “I didn’t want to do it. I didn’t want to go to that place. And, probably because I didn’t want the part, because I was scared of where it would take me, the producers knew I was right for it.” However, once she accepted the role, she found that it had the power to help her, not just with her career, but with her own mental health struggles.

“I identified with her a lot. She’s the closest character to me that I’ve ever played. But in an odd way, playing Gia has made it possible for me not to ever become her,” she explained. Jolie wanted to bring a real sense of humanity to the character, shining a light on the reality of addiction with as much realism as possible. “She had so much inside that no one knew, that quiet, private, intense and brilliant side…Everyone just thought she was wild and pretty.” 

When Gia, directed by Michael Cristofer, was released, Jolie received instant acclaim, and she picked up another Golden Globe Award for her performance. The actor also won various other accolades, including a Screen Actors Guild Awards, helping to further cement her as a bold and talented new star.

Jolie subsequently went on to appear in various acclaimed films from that point, including James Mangold’s Girl, Interrupted, which won her an Academy Award, as well as leading the hugely popular Tomb Raider franchise as Lara Croft.