Angelina Jolie has been one of Hollywood’s most talked-about stars for years, but what we see in her movies or on the red carpet is only a small part of who she really is. Behind the spotlight, her life is filled with surprising stories, some from her adventurous childhood, some from her unusual hobbies, and many from her powerful humanitarian work.
As you get to know these little pieces of her life, you start to see a completely different side of the actress. So, in this article, we’ll take a look at some interesting facts about her that show just how amazing she is, far beyond the roles she plays on screen.
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Jolie appeared in her very first film at the age of seven.
Angelina Jolie made her first on-screen appearance when she was just seven years old. She had a small role in the 1982 comedy movie “Lookin’ to Get Out,” which also starred her father Jon Voight. The actress played the role of a child named Tosh, who was the daughter of Voight’s character.
Even though the role was tiny, it marked her first experience in a real movie set, something that later became a big part of her life.
2. She has traveled to more than 20 countries for humanitarian work.
The actress has traveled to more than 20 countries for her humanitarian work, mainly to support refugees and displaced families. She began this work in 2001 when she became a UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador and later served as Special Envoy from 2012 to 2022.
Over the years, she has gone on more than 60 field missions to places like Ecuador, Sri Lanka, Ukraine, and Kenya. During these visits, she met people affected by war and crisis, listened to their stories. She also used her platform to raise awareness and push for better protection and rights for refugees.
Even after leaving her official UNHCR role, she continues to visit conflict areas and speak for vulnerable communities.
3. Angelina Jolie helped create a wildlife reserve in Cambodia.
The “Maleficent” actress helped create a wildlife reserve in Cambodia after falling in love with the country while filming “Lara Croft: Tomb Raider.” In 2003, she bought 60,000 hectares of land in Cambodia to protect it from poaching and deforestation.
She then worked with the Cambodian government to turn it into a protected area called the Maddox Jolie-Pitt Conservation Project which she named after her son, Maddox who was born there. Also, she hired former hunters to work as rangers.
Jolie did this to protect the endangered species, preserve forests and provide sustainable livelihood to local people.
4. The actress has had an unusual hobby of collecting knives since childhood.
Angelina Jolie has had a hobby of collecting knives since she was a kid. Her interest began when she saw handmade blades at Renaissance fairs and her mother even gave her a small dagger when she was around 11 or 12 years old.
As she grew older, her collection expanded and is believed to include many expensive knives, like Darrel Ralph balisongs. Jolie also knows how to handle a butterfly knife and her skills became a popular topic after she showed them during a 1998 appearance on Late Night with Conan O’Brien.
5. In 2013, she made a brave medical decision to protect her health.
After taking a genetic test, Angelina Jolie learned that she carried a BRCA1 gene mutation which gave her a very high risk of developing cancer, about 87% for breast cancer and 50% for ovarian cancer.
Because her mother had died from ovarian cancer at the age of 56, she decided to take a preventive step. She underwent a double mastectomy which means doctors removed her breast tissue to lower her chances of getting breast cancer. The treatment took several months including reconstruction and surgery.
The actress explained all of this in a New York Times op-ed titled My Medical Choice. After the surgeries her estimated risk of breast cancer dropped to under 5%.
6. Angelina Jolie is known for doing many of her own stunts.
The actress has performed many of her own stunts in action movies. In films like Lara Croft: Tomb Raider and Salt, she trained hard and performed difficult scenes herself, sometimes even doing stunts that some stunt doubles refused to try.
Even though she likes to do her own stunts, every dangerous scene is carefully tested and done with safety gear and help from stunt experts. In Salt, she performed major stunts such as jumping from a bridge onto a moving truck and leaping across tall building ledges.
During the filming of Lara Croft: Tomb Raider, she also did many of her own stunts, including a chandelier scene where she got minor burns but still returned to the set the next day.
7. The mother of six isn’t scared of insects.
Jolie is not afraid of insects and she has proven this more than once. In 2021, she took part in a National Geographic photo shoot to support bee conservation on World Bee Day. For the shoot, she stood completely still for 18 minutes while bees crawled on her. She even avoided bathing for 3 days so her natural smell wouldn’t upset them.
She has also shown her comfort with insects while in Cambodia, where eating insects is a normal thing. In 2017, Jolie was filmed cooking and eating crickets, tarantulas, and scorpions with her kids. She also revealed that her children enjoy eating crickets “like a bag of chips.”
8. Queen Elizabeth ll honored Angelina Jolie with the honorary dame title, the female version of a knight, in 2014.
In 2014, Queen Elizabeth ll honored the actress by giving her the title of Honorary Dame Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George. This is one of the highest honors in the U.K.
Angelina Jolie received this award because of her humanitarian work, especially her efforts to end sexual violence in war zones and her support for British foreign policy through her global activism. The honor was announced in June 2014 but she received it officially a few months later in October 2014 at a private ceremony at Buckingham Palace.
Because the actress is not a British citizen, she cannot use the title “dame” before her name.
9. Angelina Jolie holds citizenship of two countries.
The “Salt” actress is a citizen of two countries: the United States and Cambodia. She has always been an American citizen. Later, she was given Cambodian citizenship in 2005 as recognition of her humanitarian work and her efforts to protect the country’s environment.
10. The “Mr and Mrs Smith” actress is a Spelman mother.
Angelina Jolie is called a Spelman mom because her daughter, Zahara Marley Jolie-Pitt became a student at Spelman College, a famous historically Black women’s college in Atlanta, Georgia.
Zahara joined Spelman in 2022 and Jolie proudly supported her during move-in day and other campus events. Because of this, she is often referred to as a “Spelman mom” just like other parents of Spelman students.
11. Jolie wanted to become a funeral director before becoming an actress.
Before becoming an actress, Jolie actually wanted to be a funeral director. She thought about this career after her grandfather’s funeral. Jolie believed that funerals should be a celebration of life, not just a sad event.
She has also said that she is not afraid of death which made her feel comfortable with the idea of working in that particular field. Jolie often called it her fallback career. She even confirmed this in December 2024 on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. The actress joked that the rumors about her dream job were true.
12. She has battled depression at different points in her life.
Angelina Jolie has struggled with depression, once when she was a teenager and again after her mother’s death in 2007. She has openly talked about going through dark places, feeling extremely low and dealing with self-harm, insomnia and even suicidal thoughts.
In her teens, she had trouble connecting with others and coped by self-harming which she said felt therapeutic. Her depression became more severe in her 20s and she was even admitted to a psychiatric ward for treatment.
When her mother passed away in 2007, she went through another difficult phase. To distract herself, she took on the physically intense role in the film Wanted.
13. Angelina Jolie has been flying her own planes since 2004.
The actress is a licensed pilot who earned her private pilot’s license in 2004. She started flying because her son Maddox was interested in aeroplanes. Jolie revealed, “Every time Mad sees a plane, he’s amazed. If I could actually fly a plane by the time he’s 4, I’ll be like Superman to him.”
In early 2005, she bought a Cirrus SR22-G2, one of the safest single-engine planes. The aircraft included a built-in parachute system that would help it land safely if the pilot lost control. She also owns a Cessna 208 Grand Caravan.
14. She launched a jewelry line called “The Style of Jolie.”
With jeweler Robert Procop, Jolie launched a jewelry line called “The Style of Jolie.” It was created not just for fashion but to support a charity she co-founded called the Education Partnership for Children of Conflict. The collection which debuted around 2010-2012, features elegant pieces made with emeralds, gold and colored stones, all designed in a clean style.
Jolie and Procop committed to donating 100% of the profits from the jewelry to go towards building schools and helping children in war-affected areas.
15. Angelina Jolie was offered a part in The Aviator with Leonardo DiCaprio but chose not to take it.
The actress was offered a role in The Aviator, where she would have worked with Leonardo DiCaprio and director Martin Scorsese but she chose to turn it down. She explained that she refused because Harvey Weinstein was involved in the project as an executive producer.
Jolie has shared in an interview that she had a disturbing experience with Harvey Weinstein earlier in her career and decided she would not work on anything connected to him again. Moreover, she has warned others in the industry to stay away from him.
She said, “It was beyond a pass, it was something I had to escape. I stayed away and warned people about him. I remember telling Jonny, my first husband, who was great about it, to spread the word to other guys — don’t let girls go alone with him. I was asked to do ‘The Aviator,’ but I said no because he was involved. I never associated or worked with him again. It was hard for me when Brad did.”
