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Angelina Jolie: half lizard, half temptress in 'Beowulf' |
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Written by Rick Bentley, MCT
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Monday, 12 November 2007 |
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It was Angelina Jolie the mom, the actress and the artist who made the decision to take on the role of Grendel's mother in the new feature film "Beowulf."
"I've got kids and I thought 'that's so great. That's so bizarre. I am going to be this crazy reptilian person and creature.' I was very excited. She is one of those fun characters. She's evil. She's temptation. She is just one of those fun characters to play," Jolie says during an interview at the Four Seasons Hotel.
Jolie, dressed in gray slacks and a white blouse, is seated in a charcoal-colored chair situated just below a sign that spells out "Beowulf" in huge blood-red letters. Her less-than-zero size body is turned at a slight angle, legs crossed much in the way she was seen in numerous scenes of "Mr. and Mrs. Smith."
The movie, based on one of the oldest stories in English-language history, includes a battle between the great hero Beowulf and the creature known only as Grendel's mother that went on for eight days. The story has been changed for the movie: Grendel's mother is a little more temptress than warrior.
The actress in Jolie wanted the opportunity to work in the unusual filmmaking style. Director Robert Zemeckis created the film using a motion capture computer program. The actors worked in an empty room wearing nothing but body suits covered with hundreds of yellow dots. Those dots were used to record the information needed to make the animated version of the actor's performance.
The role also gives the 32-year-old Jolie another diverse film credit on a resume that already includes "Lara Croft: Tomb Raider," "Shark Tale" and "A Mighty Heart."
Jolie says that she was excited about the opportunity to work with Zemeckis, the man behind such films as "Back to the Future" and "The Polar Express." In fact, she was so excited about the opportunity, Jolie was agreeable to anything that was tossed her way.
"I was told I was going to play a lizard. Then I was brought into a room with Bob and all these pictures. He showed me this picture of a woman half painted gold and then a lizard," Jolie says.
Who wouldn't want to play a role that at times is a green, slimy creature who lives in the water and at other times looks like a Victoria's Secret model who forgot to dress for work?
The character in the animated film is a lizard-like shape shifter who takes on a revealing human form when she tries to seduce Beowulf. That Grendel's mother has such a perfect form shows the power of computers.
"I was three months pregnant when they filmed me," Jolie says. She pauses, flashes a coy smile and then adds, "Actually, they did map my body before I got pregnant."
As to how her onscreen body looks, Jolie shows she knows exactly how to feed interviewers what they want to hear. With a slight smile, she almost purrs, "I liked my tail."
She's OK with the image now. There were moments when she worked on the film that she had a few doubts.
"I got a little shy," Jolie says. "I didn't expect it to feel as real."
She felt exposed at times because of the digital animation process and having to wear the body suit.
But one would think she would be used to the exposure. Jolie's public life with Brad Pitt is documented by armies of paparazzi and journalists. She brushes off a question about being such a public figure with "I try not to think about my public life and focus on my private life and that is just the best way to live."
Jolie worked only a few days on "Beowulf," but that doesn't mean the shoot was not demanding.
She had to wear a harness to pretend to swim and fly. Zemeckis even had the actress learn Old English to use when talking with Grendel.
Despite the fact that what is seen on screen is just a computer-generated version of Jolie's movements, she praised Zemeckis for treating the movie like a piece of art rather than just another business project.
"I think the nice thing for all of us these days is that we all do films and it has become such a business. Or so much of it, there are these projects where people just want to rush through it. You lose touch with the artistic process and the fun of it," Jolie says. "And Bob is a real artist. And he loves it so much. And he is so enthusiastic and so original. And so you remember that you are a creative person and you have fun with everybody else.
"I needed that as an artist." | Only registered users can write comments.
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