INTERVIEWS

INTERVIEWS

This page contains several interviews with 5 key people, involved in the Tomb Raider franchise in some

fashion. Most consist

of two significant

interviews combined

together.

Goto Guest List:

Toby Gard..............Game Creator

Richard Morely.....Level Designer

Adrian Smith........Creative Director

Nell McAndrew.....Publicity Model

Angelina Jolie......Portraying Actress

Interviews...

We start off with the person who created her, as that's where it all started, an who was an artist in his early 20s at the time. Incidentally, finding an interview with this man is a took me a fair while to achieve!

[Interviewer]:- Has Lara changed much, physically, character-wise, from your original idea of her?

[Toby Gard / TG]:- Well, she went through a period of wearing slightly more military-looking clothes, but she looked too Nazi-like. For a while she looked a bit like a spice girl; baggy trousers and crop tops, but before long she found her hot pants and leotard and away we went!

[Interviewer] Is she based on anyone you know?
[TG] No, it's not often you meet gun-toting psychopaths down the pub.

[Interviewer] So what's with the unfeasibly large knockers then?
[TG] Slip of the mouse. I wanted to expand them fifty percent and then - whoops, one-hundred and fifty percent. Darn.

[Interviewer] Did they get bigger when marketing became involved?
[TG] Not really; they were just focused on more. The marketing men just saw them as the easy route to take with their campaign. I reckon they must have thought, "How are we going to market this? Hey, look at her enormous oojahs! I have a cunning plan". Clever lads.

[Interviewer] Did your girlfriend mind you spending so much time with another woman?
[TG] If you want a girlfriend, avoid working in computer games like the plague. If you work seven days a week, fifteen hours a day for almost two years, with barely enough time for a pint, you have no time whatsoever for relationships. Plus computer-games makers are regarded as being about as hip as abattoir workers.

[Interviewer] What do you think of a 'real' Lara being used in promotion - will you be buying her single?
[TG] I think it's really weird when you've drawn a character and then you meet someone who's actually paid to dress up the same and pretend to be her. Very strange. As far as I'm aware the single is no longer going to happen. If it does, though, yes, I'll buy it. I like a laugh.

[Interviewer] Is Lara a feminist icon or a sexist fantasy?
[TG] Neither and a bit of both. Lara was designed to be a tough, self-reliant, intelligent woman. She confounds all the sexist clichés apart from the fact that she's got an unbelievable figure. Strong, independent women are the perfect fantasy girls - the untouchable is always the most desirable.

[Interviewer] Would she work if she wasn't upper-class?
[TG] I can't somehow imagine her in a council house wearing white stilettos and sporting a fake-blonde perm. She was made to be as quintessentially British as possible. It's generally held that unless you have an American hero you won't be able to sell a game in America. I though that by deliberately reversing as many rules as possible, ie female (but strong, not tartly), a British not American lead character, and American not British villains, we'd make something that was unusual and fresh.

[Interviewer] Which is more important: the character or the game?
[TG] The game is always the most important thing: the way it plays, the interface, and the content. A good character is useful to bring the thing to life.

[Interviewer] Are you still in love with Lara or are you sick of the sight of her?
[TG] Neither. It's good to see the character around still, quite satisfying in fact. I don't think it would be quite normal for you to love something you made up though, a bit too Bride of Frankenstein for my liking.

Interview published in the June 1997 issue of 'The Face'

Toby Gard - "When I came up with the idea for Tomb Raider it wasn't necessarily going to be a female character. We at Core-Design wanted a real-time cinematic game, and I designed a couple of characters - one was a girl, an one was a guy. Eventually we realised that there was going to be a lot of story element in the game and we couldn't keep both the characters, so it was back down to one".

So which should they choose? At the time, a female lead in a game was almost unheard of, Gard says. "There was resistance from marketing quarters saying that female characters never sold". Eventually, Core-design chose Lara as a refreshing antidote to the muscled meat-heads that usually populated videogames.

The plans to finesse the character design for the next-generation Tomb Raider game, coming to Sony's far more visually powerful PlayStation2 some time next year, are "to smooth her off without changing the aesthetics that work" he says.

But will these aesthetics be influenced by the performance of Angelina Jolie in the Tomb Raider film? Lara's creator, Toby Gard, rather approves of the casting. "Yeah, Angelina Jolie certainly looks the part," he says. "She has that certain wild quality which is important - that's what I had in mind".

The rise to ubiquity of Lara Croft came as a surprise to her digital dad. "I never expected to have that happen," Gard says. "You know, as a designer, I'd gone through my life making sketches for these characters, and you think they're yours - then you realise they're not yours at all".

It was the massive success of Lara, in fact, that prompted Gard to leave Core Design and set up his own company, Confounding Factor, before the second Tomb Raider game appeared. "Other people were just doing things with her I didn't agree with," he says now, guardedly. He is currently working on a game, Galleon, that he promises "will have the same effect as Tomb Raider had in terms of how far ahead of everything else it's going to be". But Lara, for Toby Gard, is history. Once she had become public property, he had to abandon her to her fate.

The next interview is with a person who creates the sections of the game environment, that combine to makeup the entire game story, an which are known as 'Levels'. This man, who is known as a Level Designer, worked on both the 3rd an 4th TR games - which many players consider are the 2 best editions of the game series! PS: regarding the picture opposite, the designer is the one on the right-side. [ho-ho]

Interviewer: As a level designer, what is your philosophy for making a level work well?

Richard: The first thing is to have a centerpiece for the level and work around that. This could be the crashed plane on TR3, a vehicle, or a huge creature. The level must have at least four specific things that are either unique or introduced on that level. Difficulty is always a tricky task... it's actually harder for us to make a level easy.

Interviewer: What are the actual steps involved in level design? Could you run through this procedure for a typical level in TR?

Richard: First I took a visit to the local library and all the good bookstores to gather as much reference material as possible. Then I usually get as much design work done on paper first as I can. The next step is to create a rough level design - this is usually very sketchy and is only useful as a rough guide. It's quite difficult to draw a 3D map on a 2D sheet of paper.

Now we move into the [computer] editors. I first create a rough room layout and sculpt the landscapes. Rooms usually get added as the level fleshes out. Textures are scanned in and adjusted to make them work, then a room is textured and lit to check the look and feel of the level. Now the rest of the level is built - the enemies, pickups, traps etc. are added last.

Interviewer: What sort of inspiration did you use for the new levels in TLR? (tr4)

Richard: Cambodia was a place I wanted to do for ages. Its culture and architecture is a weird mix of Chinese and Hindu. Angkor has always fascinated me... just the fact that it was only truly discovered a few decades ago makes it even more mysterious. Egypt is so rich in locations and architectural style that we had to base the game there. Not many people realise how diverse Egypt really is. In other games we get the typical "Egypt Level". Not this one.

Interviewer: We understand you were the head map designer for TR3 and also currently lead level designer for TLR. What responsibilities does that entail?

Richard: Playing the entire game through to try and balance the difficulty out, giving suggestions and ideas for the other mapper's levels, solving any technical faults with the editor, working around the limits and sometimes breaking them.

Interviewer: What is a typical day for a level designer?

Richard: A normal working day - Get into work at around 9:30am, work until 1.00pm (lunch), get back in at 2:00pm, work until 5:30pm, go home. Last two months of TR:TLR - Get into work at 9:30 - 10:00am (very tired), work until 1:00pm after four cups of coffee, go to lunch as usual, work 'til at least 11.00pm, sometimes much later. The last few weeks are 4.00am finishes.

Interviewer: How does a development team keep focused on the project at hand? Do you ever just get tired of seeing Lara day in and day out?

Richard: It depends day to day. Some days I can stare at Lara and really hate her. When something really cool gets implemented within the game (like the rope-swings), my faith is restored. She is such a versatile character for us. We can put her in any situation and give her any superhuman move we like. She still looks cool.

Interviewer: When you do get a new feature implemented (like the ropes), what happens to the levels that have already been designed? Do you go back and redesign them, so that the new feature can be put to good use?

Richard: We usually know from the start all the features that are going to be implemented. Sometimes when one of us invents a cool new feature that has to go in (the climbable poles is one example), we try to adjust the level to make it fit in. We never try and force a feature to work for the sake of it... you can over-use things and that just makes them boring.

Interviewer: There have been many requests for a level editor for TR, but we know that Core is clear that there are no plans for a TR level editor to be released to the public. From your perspective as a level designer, what are your thoughts on this issue?

Richard: TR-Edit isn't a commercial editor. There are so many quirks within the system that it would be unusable for Joe-public. The only way a TR editor could be made public is if we wrote another one for the public. This would take a lot of time. A TR level usually takes two months to complete. Some levels are quicker to finish than others though.

Interviewer: What are some of the games you like to play and admire?

Richard: Quake obviously. Unreal was nice. Half-Life was better that all of them. I also like to play the classic shoot-em-up games like Metal Slug and R-Type Delta. Zelda 64 was cool but had some very obscure puzzles in it, Many, many nights were spent trying to finish it.

Interviewer: What games do you think are examples of great level design?

Richard: Zelda 64, Half-Life, Outcast.

Interviewer: What is your dream game that you would like to design?

Richard: I would love to create a TR-RPG, in full 3D but with similar gameplay to the old LucasArts titles (Day of the Tentacle, Fate of Atlantis, etc).

Interview published in a 1999 issue of 'The TR Times'

Adrian Smith has been the creative director for many of the TR games, including the groundbreaking 6th game called Angel of Darkness. It was about this game that this interview focused on, which took place on a games website. It started off with the point that the last time fans saw Lara, she appeared to have fallen an died, thus...

Interviewer:
Reveal all, Lara's not really dead is she?

Adrian Smith:
The important thing with TR was finishing the franchise as we know it and on PlayStation at a point that allowed us to have a clean start. That's why we came up with the idea of leaving Lara locked up in an Egyptian pyramid. It allows us not to take any of the baggage over from TR. The last thing we want in Tomb Raider Next Gen is Lara Croft standing up outside a tomb.

Interviewer:
So what direction will Tomb Raider Next Generation take?

Adrian Smith:
That wonderful word we're all talking about, "episodic". A lot of our focus has been on making sure that Tomb Raider Next Gen will be an episodic game. Not just a game where you play it from beginning to end and then think "great" and throw it away and we have to come back in 12 months and reinvent the wheel.
What we've done is written the TR book with lots and lots of chapters. What we're going to deliver in the first version of the game is three or four of those chapters. Like an episode of the X-Files, you can play the game and know that you are part of a larger picture. Even though that's a self-contained episode there are hooks in every episode to the bigger picture. This episodic nature will hopefully go along with the capabilities of the new consoles and PCs. It may mean that a few months after the release of the game we might release information about one of the characters that you've met. Or release more information about the story. We want to make it like a series so you're there one week and back the next to watch the next episode. If it takes off online then we can release stuff online.

Interviewer:
What will Tomb Raider Next Gen mean for Ms Croft?

Adrian Smith:
For us, Lara Croft has always lived a very privileged life and that life has opened many doors to her. By having this near-death experience and having come back to England she may have sat down and realised that perhaps raiding tombs is not the most important thing to her. She may be having problems adjusting to normal life. She may become an alcoholic, she may be taking drugs, Croft Manor might have burned down. The possibilities are endless. There are no intentions of having the abrupt endings we had in the past. That shocking new system means that Lara is going to be plunged into a very different lifestyle which will be totally the opposite of what she's used to. Obviously Lara has to see the adventure through from beginning to end. There's no way she can get out of it halfway through. She has to prove something, almost her innocence.

Interviewer:
We've heard you might play other characters as well as Lara?

Adrian Smith:
On her way she will meet many new characters and much of the story is progressed through interaction with the other characters, both playable and non-playable. There are several new characters that you will have to play. You'll actually have to take them off and follow some path and solve things. They will cross Lara's path several times during the game.

Interviewer:
Will there be a stronger role-playing element in Tomb Raider Next Generation?

Adrian Smith:
We've built a stronger bond between what Lara does and how she actually develops. Which means that the Lara I play is very different to the Lara you play and vice versa. We've always understood that the consumer forms a very strong link with Lara and they form two camps: they are either a force protecting Lara or they are actually Lara. We want to build on this and therefore, dependent on how you play the game, how you look after Lara and how you control Lara will be reflected back in the stats and the type of Lara that you build.
An example would be that if I choose to run everywhere myself during the game then you find Lara's skill set for running will increase, just like a traditional RPG model. You won't get an onscreen prompt saying that your running skill has just gone up by one point but you will notice that you can run a bit faster or a little bit longer, just subtle things like that. Maybe things like climbing - if I climb the obvious routes I will improve my climbing skills, but if I try one of the more difficult routes, even if I fail, I still advance. That means I can get to the secret ledge or hidden corridor or what ever. It will just mean a different route, a different path.

Interviewer:
So what will distinguish Tomb Raider Next Gen from the first series of Tomb Raider games?

Adrian Smith:
It's an original game design evolved specifically for next generation technology. My frustration as a fairly avid gamer is that there are a lot of sequels. This game has been designed specifically with the next generation consoles in mind and exclusively, initially for PS2. It's also, in my opinion, a game that hasn't been done before and hasn't been seen before.

Our whole focus for this and the bringing of the Next Generation is not only the PS2 but through Microsoft onto the Xbox. We're bringing something darker, more mature. We're definitely aiming this at a more mature audience. We've looked at films like the Omen and The Exorcist, which are very dark and deep kind of films and that gives some kind of indication of what you can expect to see.

She's tall, athletic, and incredibly well built. This describes both Lara Croft and Nell McAndrew. The two women have much in common, but there is one very towering difference: one is made up of vectors, the other of flesh and blood. At twenty-three yrs old Nell McAndrew was a former Lara Croft model. Nell's physical and near enough to touch. She did autograph signings and photo-shoots as Lara, an the fans appreciated this. But that wasn't the reason I decided to have her represent here the other Lara models. It's because firstly, we share the same birthday, and secondly, she looks quite shag-worthy, [as Austin Powers would say].

How did you get the job as the body double for Lara Croft?
I was one of about 150 applicants. My ex-boyfriend spent hours playing the game so that I would know exactly what I had to look like and how I needed to move. I was called back after the first casting, and then I was invited a third time. After that I was the lucky one.

And has your life changed since then?
I've been able to visit places that I've never been before. For example, on our last tour we were in Australia and Tennessee. You don't get to visit places like these every day. That was really enjoyable. In the beginning I couldn't believe how fans reacted to my appearances. We had 4,000 people at the autograph signing in Madrid who were there only to get an autograph from me as Lara. When I pulled out my pistol, they really went crazy and everyone cheered as if I were a pop star. That was a completely invigorating feeling.

Why do you think that Lara has so many fans? Is it because of the game or the way she looks?
Both play a role. It's actually all of it together. She looks great and can do everything. Besides that, Tomb Raider is an action game that you have to think about in order to master it. There might also be men who like to be able to control Lara. She is indeed a powerful woman, but she is also dependent on the player's hands.

Did you get bored sometimes?
Yes, it could be very tiring. But when I came home and I looked back on it, I told myself, "Wow, I was just in Australia and was even paid for it. I stayed in the most expensive hotel and met really cool people".

But it wasn't always like that, was it?
Sometimes when I was on the go, I had to really concentrate on the work and didn't have any time or desire for anything else. The strains began to wane only when I was at home again. But then I let myself relax and realize how happy I truly am. I had to work pretty hard to achieve what I have today. I think that when someone has gone through some rough times, then she learns to appreciate things much sooner. It's nice to travel somewhere and to know that there's someone you can call and say, "Hey, I'm in the area. Can we get together?" You can learn a lot from people from other countries. They see many things differently than we do and that's interesting. I only wish that I knew more languages, because I only know English.

What did you truly dislike about your job?
It could be pretty stressful at times. It's hard when I was not feeling well or even just tired and I landed somewhere, had make-up applied for two hours, and then had to go on the stage of some TV show and play the most spirited person in the world. Inside, I was tired. Those were the hard times for me, but everything has a negative and positive side.

Is there anything that you would like to say to your fans?
Yes. Thank you for supporting the game and Lara Croft so much, because without you I wouldn't be sitting here and I wouldn't have had this wonderful job. I hope that I presented the character the way you imagined her.

Did you know anything about Lara and Tomb Raider before?
Yes, I had actually played the game a little before the casting. I had also seen Lara Croft on the front covers of lots of magazines.

How do you feel about representing a digital character?
Very excited! Lara Croft is such a tough, sexy character - why wouldn't I want to be her? She's larger than life and I'm proud to think that I've been chosen to play her part.

Do you think you have much in common with Lara?
Yes. I'm very independent and I love sports...running, boxing etc. I have an athletic build like Lara and I've also got a rather large chest, though not quite as big as Lara's!!! I also love a challenge.

Do you think Lara is a positive role model to today's young women? If so, why?
Yes, I do think Lara is a positive model... it's great to see a woman so powerful, independent and tough, yet still sexy. I really think that Lara gives women inspiration to go out and get what they want. She's a real no-nonsense character!

What's the best thing about being Lara Croft?
Being Lara makes me feel powerful and confident, and the reaction I've had from people so far makes me feel really popular, even loved! It's a real pleasure to meet all the fans who support Lara...they're so dedicated to her!

What are your aspirations for the future?
The main thing for me is to be successful and happy. I haven't decided exactly what I want to do just yet... I'm taking each day as it comes (a bit like Lara!). I love meeting all Lara's fans so I'll be more than happy to carry on doing that!

What are your favourite leisure activities?
I love sports: running, cycling and going to the gym, and I'm hoping to take a course in rock climbing soon! When I'm not feeling quite so active I enjoy the cinema and eating out but every now and then I'll let my hair down and have a mad clubbing night out.

Lara's a bit of a globetrotter... have you visited many countries yourself?
Yes... quite a few, including Japan, America, Lebanon, Italy, France and Spain.

What's been your favourite job so far and why?
Lara Croft of course! I also really enjoyed my time as a hostess on the TV game show "Man Oh Man", hosted by Chris Tarrant.

How did you start your modeling career... did you always want to be a model?
I was quite interested in seeing if I had what it takes to be a professional model, so I went to see a model agency in Manchester who took me on their books. That was a few years ago and it took a long time to build up regular work and a decent portfolio, but I didn't give up. Before that I was working in a bank. After my first taste of modeling I knew that I didn't want to go back!

Lara's got rather large breasts, a tiny waist and very long legs... do you think that men are attracted to Lara simply because of the way she looks?
No... not just because she looks great, although those vital statistics do help... well initially anyway! I think men really fall in love with Lara because she's so versatile... there's nothing she won't attempt, or at least try. She doesn't let anything get in her way and I think a lot of men really like women to be strong in character as well as the physical side of things.

The actress who portrayed Lara on the cinema screen, Angelina Jolie, performed most of her own stunts: emulating the acrobatic, gravity-defying grace of her digital counterpart. But in the unforgiving real world, this resulted in injuries to her knee and shoulder, and torn ligaments in her foot, plus a scratched retina. Still, she speaks affectionately of the character in the 2 closing interviews of this section in my website.

Besides the marriage, it seems Lara Croft has also brought out a new side of you.
Jolie: This was a side of myself that I didn’t think was in me. But it wasn’t a surprise to people who know me. You spend so much time in your head as an actor, living in the dark, you forget to be free. And I’m the first person to be looking for what freedom means and to feel trapped and in a cage. It took me a while to realize that when I was standing at the edge of a waterfall in Cambodia, and I was so happy...God, I really learned what the world is about. Now it makes more sense to me, because if this is how I’ve needed to be my whole life and I didn’t have an outlet for it, it maybe explains why I’m a little crazy.

You have some very touching scenes with your real-life father, Jon Voight, another relationship that has healed for you in recent years. What was it like calling him up to ask him to be in the movie?
Jolie: I actually called him and got a machine and said, “This is Angie.” And then said, “This is not a bad call.” 'Cause I don’t call much, and if it’s me and it’s your father, you say, “Hi, this is not a bad call. I’m not in jail, no more tattoos, I’m not pregnant, I just need to talk to you.”

So how were things when he came on the set?
Jolie: We were nervous for each other and nervous to want to make it a good scene, ‘cause it meant so much to us. But you forget so much when you look into your parents’ eyes. When he came on the set, I was in hair and makeup, and he sent in this silly toy that came walking in the room. And I’m trying to be all tough, and here’s this, like, pig.

We were in wardrobe together and having lunch together. It’s a great thing to work with your parent...it was just so much fun. And then he hung out and watched some [filming]. Jon would watch some of the things and just really not understand why it was necessary for me to be falling on the ground again. He was like, “What is she doing? Couldn’t somebody else be doing that?”

The director, Simon West, says you were so gung-ho that he often had to tell you that you weren’t really Lara Croft.
Jolie: He’s still trying to tell me that. [Laughs] [But] the first few weeks in this film, when I was training, I spent one night in the bathtub with all my bruises and the little cut, crying, “What am I doing? I’m not gonna be able to do this.” I couldn’t get the guns even. I kept hitting myself with the braid. I’ve always been ridiculously fearless to a fault. I don’t know where that comes from; maybe it’s because I feel so happy just to be alive.

So how authentically Lara Croft are you, in the, er, bustline manner of speaking?
Jolie: This has been the big question. I’m a 36C. In the film, I’m a 36D. In the game, she’s a double-D 40 with a 20-inch waist and 35-inch hips or something. I have a regular waist, regular hips, kind of like a boy. So we basically gave her a proper padded bra. But it wasn’t so far off, since I had to do the physical things. I’m fine with my breasts and I don’t think it’s something little girls look at and think “I should be that and get a breast implant.” It’s a part of her character, so you do it. But I want every young girl to know that is not completely me.

Lara uses guns, but you’re famously known for being a knives kind of woman, right?
Jolie: I don’t think that’s that crazy. I lived in New York by myself for three years. I had a knife under the mattress, you know? I have a case that I lock all my knives in when [Billy’s] children are in. And they can’t go in that room - that’s the weapons room. That’s where Billy’s guns are. There’s a lock on it.

What’s this we’re hearing about an electric chair you asked them to put in Lara’s bedroom? Was that a Lara thing or an Angelina thing?
Jolie: [Sheepishly] That’s a few things. Billy got electrocuted at the end of a movie this year [ie- The Man Who Wasn’t There]. So it was romantic for me to have it. [Uproarious laughter]

And how are you at the video game?
Jolie: I get frustrated with the game all the time. I can’t work a computer, it’s so frustrating.

We heard Billy Bob’s kids were asking you for help.
Jolie: They did...I could not help him. Eventually he switched games. He worked out some of the things, but I was thinking “Maybe I could just call Paramount and get somebody on the phone with me”.

Known for being open and outspoken, Jolie is happy not to be actual Lara-size. "I gained weight for this role to give myself a more curvy look, but personally I wouldn't want those breasts".

It seems odd that an actress renowned for doing dark edgy roles like her Oscar-winning part in Girl, Interrupted, would chose to do a summer action blockbuster. The 100 million dollar spectacular was filmed in Pinewood England, with sequences in Iceland and Cambodia.

"People told me I should be doing things considered to be more serious," she admits. "I have drowned in being deep and complicated and dark. It's sometimes hard in life to be free so I thought I want to go on this adventure".

Jolie loved the fact that Croft is both athletic and intelligent. "This is the first time I've happened to do something mainstream and have some fun with it. It's funny, this is me doing an action movie but I've never played such a lady.

"Lara has been raised in England but she's not uptight," explains Jolie. "She's wicked and wild with the same sense of freedom of an Indiana Jones. She's completely sensual, free and primitive. More than anything she is also athletic. I love everything she stands for".

The fact that Lara can slug it out with a man appealed to Jolie. "She's an empowered woman, it was just so much fun doing it. We gave her the things that make her Lara".

Director Simon West doesn't think anyone but Jolie could have done the role. While other attempts at turning video game characters into big screen heroes have mostly failed, Lara Croft: Tomb Raider seems to have hit the jackpot. He says "She's totally right for the role. It's like finding Sean Connery in 1962 for James Bond, I now can't see how I'd have done the film without her".

It was a tough grueling shoot for Jolie, who did a number of her own stunts. The actress had to work out hard to get herself in shape for the role. She trained for 10 weeks before shooting began, then kept up a rigorous physical regimen, as well as doing bungee jumping, riding motorbikes and weapon training.

"I felt exhausted but excited by the challenge. So many nights I went home with injuries, soaked in the bath and tried to get through to the next day," she says.

A bonus for Jolie was working with her father, Midnight Cowboy star Jon Voight. The pair have had a distant relationship in the past, so they were able to get in some serious bonding. Voight plays her screen father, Lord Croft. Jolie's real mother is French actress Marcheline Bertrand, her parents divorced when she was young.

"Our scenes together were special for so many reasons," says Jolie, who uses her middle name. "We were in wardrobe together and having lunch together, it was great. So much of this story is about Lara reconnecting with her father". She's certainly found herself a slot in the Hollywood A-list for female leads. After her Oscar and this, the studios are falling over themselves for her.

It is easy to see why director West was so enamoured with Jolie playing the no-nonsense sexy heroine. Jolie is candid and no-nonsense herself. In the past some of her outspoken honesty about her sex life and opinions have landed her in hot water.

But she isn't one to shirk from a question, whether it's about her tattoos or her love life with husband Billy Bob Thornton. She had a brief marriage to British actor Jonny Lee Miller in the early 90s after they did Hackers together.

"I'm just honest, I like that I don't have to worry about what I say. I really don't have the time or energy to pretend and I don't want to live that way. There's also a hell of a lot people don't know about me".