Angelina Jolie has revealed how her iconic role in ‘Tomb Raider’ forced her to quit smoking and overhaul her physical routine.
Opening up during a question and answer session, Angelina Jolie has revealed how her iconic role in ‘Tomb Raider’ forced her to quit smoking and overhaul her physical routine.
Angelina Jolie has revealed how her iconic role in ‘Tomb Raider’ forced her to quit smoking and overhaul her physical routine.
The 49-year-old became a pin-up for millions of fans after she starred as adventurer Lara Croft in the 2001 film, which grossed $274.7 million worldwide, making it one of the highest-grossing video game adaptations.
Angelina has now told during an appearance at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival in California, where she received the prestigious Maltin Modern Master award and took part in a question and answer session with renowned critic Leonard Maltin how her physique changed for the role, telling how the intense demands of the action part pushed her to make drastic lifestyle changes.
She said about her preparation: “I admittedly came (in) smoking two packs a day and completely had to change my health and my life and discover that I could do things I didn’t know I could do.”
Known for her fierce performances and humanitarian work, Angelina also recalled how ‘Tomb Raider’ “would change everything” for her – not just in terms of her career, but in her personal life as well.
For months leading up to filming, she focused intensely on training, an experience that took her well beyond her usual fitness habits.
She went on: “For ‘Tomb Raider’ there were a few months of just nothing but multiple training sessions a day: morning, noon and night.
“And I didn’t want anything but good food, water, and sleep at a certain point.”
Her rigorous routine eventually helped her quit smoking for good, she added.
Angelina said: “I was in training and that’s what your body (wants)… you change.”
Reflecting on the long-term effects of her transformation, she said about smoking: “I never did it again… well, I think I did once or twice.”
Angelina is a mother of six to children Maddox, 23, Pax, 21, Zahara, 20, Shiloh, 18, and twins Knox Léon and Vivienne Marcheline, 16, with her 61-year-old former husband Brad Pitt.
