Sitting with Jolie in a suite at the Georgetown Ritz-Carlton, in Washington, D.C., the only thing that would lead you to think that you were not interviewing an up-and-coming businesswoman or a Ferragamo-clad suburban mom would be the no-nonsense muscle standing by the door.
Jolie was in Washington two weekends ago to promote her new action thriller, "Salt" (opening Friday), and it's a testament to how much the film means to her and Sony Pictures (possible franchise?) that the normally press-shy actress did roundtable interviews (no blood oath necessary) and select one-on-ones. She should talk more often - far from being some moody weirdo, Jolie was affable and engaged, funny and smart.
While reporters were asked to keep personal questions to a minimum (translation: Don't ask about her life partner, actor Brad Pitt , their kids or Pitt's ex-wife Jennifer Aniston or we'll toss you into the Potomac), Jolie was happy to volunteer that she's on mommy duty "because Brad is working" and that the previous night she'd stayed back at the hotel playing with Play-Doh with two of her girls. Regarding all the nonsense written about her, she shrugged.
"I pay no attention to it," she said. "I go straight to news when I'm online and don't go to the grocery store."
As for "Salt," Jolie says that it's Hollywood's first attempt to place a female action hero in a real-world setting - less Lara Croft, more Jason Bourne.
Veteran producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura ("Transformers") said of the actress that "nobody else has the thing that she has. I can't think of anyone else who could make this [movie] on this scale."
Jolie plays CIA agent Evelyn Salt, who's accused of being a Russian mole, and the movie's twisty plot - is she or isn't she? - takes her on a series of chases and through a variety of teeth-rattling fight scenes that are a testament to her charisma, conditioning and the stunt coordination of Simon Crane, who's been working with Jolie for a decade.
"He's really a genius," she said of Crane, stressing how much time he put into devising fight scenes that would make her look able to beat up men 100 pounds heavier.
"She's faster, quicker, she can jump on things," Jolie said. "Everything had to be possible."
It could be crazy, she added with a smile, "but not impossible."
Two other facets of the film that Jolie felt strongly about were that it had to be realistic (within its Hollywood summer- popcorn-movie context) and, although the script had originally been written for Tom Cruise, she didn't want it turned into "a girl movie."
Although Jolie's big, pouty lips and intense eyes could probably broker Mideast peace, Salt wouldn't use sex appeal to disarm men, a la Mata Hari. "She's better than that," Jolie said.
In fact, she added, they made the script darker and meaner.
Another change was that Salt's child, who was a part of the movie when the spy was a man, was taken out when Salt became a woman.
"I just thought that a woman in that position would not have a child," she said. "The child would cling and the audience would become fixated on her going back for the child."
Jolie said that what intrigued her about Salt was the duplicity of her secret agent's character. "I liked that she was neither a good guy or a bad guy," she said.
She also liked learning about real-life spies - she does travel to enough global hot spots to be one. Jolie worked closely with former CIA agent Melissa Mahle, who served as a consultant on the film, and the actress said, "I spent a lot of time with people of Russia House. The thing I found most interesting was how isolated and lonely they felt about not being able to talk about their life and work with their families."
As for shooting on location in the nation's capital, Jolie said that it was exhilarating. "You feel the power of things that get done," she said, "and the frustration of things that don't get done."
"Salt" director Phillip Noyce ("Dead Calm," "Patriot Games," "A Clear and Present Danger") worked with Jolie 10 years ago on "The Bone Collector" and said that her transformation has been incredible.
"Then she was an accomplished actress but was still finding herself," he said. "She was a wallflower when she came to my house for a barbecue. Now she has things to teach me, especially in the area of stunts.
"And success has given her even more fearlessness."
Jolie's co-star Liev Schreiber ("The Manchurian Candidate"), however, did have a little fear.
"I met her years ago at Sundance," Schreiber said. "But I get nervous around famous people and beautiful women, so this was like a double whammy for me."
Schreiber said that the pair bonded over kids (Schreiber has two sons under age 3), teething and timeouts, and all the sexual tension went out of the room.
Schreiber was also able to help Jolie in a scene in which she disguises herself as a male military officer. Both he and co-star Chiwetel Ejiofor have cross-dressed in movies.
"Every lead in this movie has cross-dressed," Jolie said, laughing.
The actress thought that she was quite suave as a man but said that the cast couldn't talk with her when she put on her man-wig and uniform.
It was on that day of shooting that Brad Pitt decided to visit the set. Jolie told him that she was going to look like a man but she said that Pitt told her, "It won't bother me, it's you."
"Brad came in and I was half-woman, half man," she said, "and he was really creeped out."
So, does Jolie see herself kicking butt in 20 to 30 years when she's the age of male action stars Bruce Willis , Sylvester Stallone and Harrison Ford?
"No," she said, laughing, "I'll be playing with the grandkids."
When it's her next turn to work, Jolie is fascinated about the possibility of playing Cleopatra, but there isn't a script yet.
No hurries. The once-wild child has grown up, she's more grounded and more comfortable in her own skin - a mother first.
"I've had such a wonderful career," she said, "I don't need to make another movie."
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