In Conversation

02 December 2008 02:59 BST

Angelina Jolie – a family affair

Angelina Jolie can be forgiven for getting shedding a tear or two over the harrowing true-life story of her latest movie.

A Mighty Heart, out in cinemas this week, sees the Hollywood superstar play Mariane Pearl, the wife who had to deal with the kidnapping and beheading of US journalist Daniel Pearl in Pakistan five years ago.

Having become personal friends with Mariane after the two went on a play date with their children, she faced a real challenge in convincing herself that she was ready to act for the film.

Speaking during the recent Cannes film festival, the Tomb Raider, Alexander and Mr and Mrs Smith star revealed she was still finding the stress of playing Mariane fresh in her mind.

"The night before shooting I was tossing and turning and imagining everything that could possibly go wrong," she said.

"I felt bad that I was even assuming that I could play this woman that I respected so much and I felt humbled to a point of being unable to move. But her faith in me to do it really helped me so much… if you know your heart is in the right place and you know you really care I do think there is a lot to that, so I tried to remember that."

To make the role even more challenging, Jolie has to portray the difficulties of pregnancy in the film. Mariane was six months from giving birth when her husband was kidnapped and Jolie admits she found imagining what extra problems this would have imposed "unfathomable".

"It was so emotional for me because in preparing to do it, it was right after I had given birth to Shi and that was such a special time and such a special time with Brad. And to have your baby born and look at your baby and look across the room at the other parent and to know that somebody took that away from her, infuriates me."

Jolie may have lost sleep over the role, but she shouldn't have worried. A Mighty Heart has been met with praise from critics who are as keen on its exploration of modern political sensitivities as they are about her performance.

The film boosts the values of multicultural life on several levels, including the transatlantic nature of the Pearls' marriage and the friendship forged between Mariane and Pakistani officials. Jolie feels this is telling about its moral message.

"One of the things that drew me to it, separately from her, was this idea of this mix of faiths and backgrounds," she explained.

"We need to be open-minded to understand that there are lots of different levels of things going on and we shouldn't be so quick to judge – and certainly not to judge a whole race, a whole religion or a whole people."

Her confidence in humanity may have been severely tested by her experience as a UN ambassador for peace – "I've seen a lot of things not heal properly" – but she says she is not "disheartened" and appears to draw strength from her young family.

Perhaps it is that closeness which made the scene in which she had to play Mariane receiving news of Daniel Pearl's death so difficult for all involved.

"There was something about that night. It was like we woke up that morning and it was the same as it was years before, when we heard the news about Danny," she remembers.

"Even the actors I was looking at off camera had tears in their eyes. It had nothing to do with acting, it was the thought that somebody would do that to another human being… that broke us."

Given the nature of the story, it's likely that cinemagoers will be joining Jolie in reaching for the handkerchief when they watch the film.

To view the A Mighty Heart trailer, click here.

And to read our review of the film click here.