Angelina Jolie’s Acting Career

1993-1997
After a brief career as a model, Jolie began her film career in 1993 with a starring role in the low-budget film “Cyborg 2.” Some other notable films from this period include her first Hollywood production role in “Hackers,” where she met her first husband Jonny Lee Miller, and “Foxfire,” where she sparked a relationship with co-star Jenny Shimizu.

1998-2000
In 1998, Jolie won a Golden Globe for her role in the biographical TV movie “George Wallace.” That same year, she played the tragic model Gia Marie Carangi in the biographical TV movie “Gia.” Critics praised Jolie’s performance as the heroin-addicted Carangi, and she won a second Golden Globe and her first Screen Actors Guild Award. Following “Gia,” Jolie moved to New York and temporarily stopped acting, feeling she “had no more to give.”

Jolie returned with “Playing by Heart,” an ensemble production that also starred Sean Connery, Gillian Anderson and Ryan Phillippe. Both the film and Jolie’s performance were well received. After Jolie appeared in the film “Pushing Tin” as the seductive wife of Billy Bob Thornton, she would carry her role into real life by marrying her co-star the very next year. Jolie then worked with Denzel Washington in the crime film “The Bone Collector.” The film had a turnover of $151 million worldwide, but received mixed reviews from critics.

In 1999, Jolie starred as the sociopathic Lisa Rowe in the biographical film “Girl, Interrupted.” Even though the film was meant as the comeback role for protagonist Winona Ryder, Jolie stole the show and marked a big breakthrough in her Hollywood career. In 2000, she won her third Golden Globe, her second Screen Actors Guild Award and her first Academy Award for the supporting role. In the summer of that year, Jolie received her first blockbuster role in “Gone in 60 Seconds,” playing opposite Nicolas Cage. The film took $237 million internationally and was her most popular film to date.

2001-2004
Joile reached the status of international superstar with her role as video game heroine Lara Croft in “Lara Croft: Tomb Raider.” While Jolie was widely praised for her physical performance, the film received negative reviews from most critics. The film was nonetheless an international success with sales of $275 million and launched her global reputation as a female action star.

Jolie then appeared as the sensual but deceptive mail-order bride of Antonio Banderas in “Original Sin.” In 2002, she played an ambitious journalist whose world is turned upside down in “Life or Something Like It.” Both films received mixed reviews, but Jolie’s performances were once again well received by critics.

In 2003, Jolie reiterated her role as Lara Croft in “Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life.” The sequel, though not as lucrative as the original, had an international turnover of $156 million. Later that year, she appeared in “Beyond Borders,” a film about aid workers in Africa. The film reflected Jolie’s interest in charity work and development, but the film was critically and financially unsuccessful.

In 2004, Jolie appeared alongside Ethan Hawke as an FBI agent in the thriller “Taking Lives.” That same year, she also provided the voice of the fish Lola in the DreamWorks animated film “Shark Tale” and had a small role in the sci-fi adventure film “Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow.” She ended 2004 with the role of Olympias in “Alexander,” a biographical film about the life of Alexander the Great. The film was poorly attended in America but was an international success with sales of $139 million.

2005-Present
Jolie played in only one film in 2005 – the action comedy “Mr. & Mrs. Smith,” where she met current partner Brad Pitt. The film, which tells the story of a bored couple who discover that they are both assassins, had a turnover of $478 million worldwide and was one of the biggest successes of that year. Jolie followed up in Robert De Niro’s “The Good Shepherd” as the neglected wife of a CIA agent played by Matt Damon.

In 2007, Jolie starred in the film “A Mighty Heart” as Mariane Pearl, the widow of murdered journalist Daniel Pearl. Her performance gave Jolie her fourth Golden Globe nomination and third Screen Actors Guild Award nomination. That same year, Jolie also played Grendel’s mother in the epic motion-capturing film “Beowulf.”

The following year, Jolie took on the role in the action movie “Wanted,” playing the assassin Fox alongside James McAvoy and Morgan Freeman. The film was well received critically and was an international success with sales of $342 million. She also provided the voice of Tigress in the DreamWorks animated movie “Kung Fu Panda.” With a turnover of $632 million worldwide, “Kung Fu Panda” became Jolie’s most popular film to date. Later in 2008, Jolie appeared in Clint Eastwood’s truth-based drama “Changeling.” Jolie’s character in the film, Christine Collins, was reunited with her kidnapped son only to realize that the boy an impostor. Praised by critics, Jolie received for her role an Academy Award nomination, her fifth Golden Globe nomination and her fourth Screen Actors Guild Award nomination.

Jolie decided to take an extended break from acting to raise her children and travel the world doing charity work in third-world countries. It was confirmed that Jolie would star as Cleopatra in the remake of “Queen of the Nile, Cleopatra: A Life,” based on the book by Stacy Schiff.