Angelina Jolie is gracing the cover of
Vanity Fair again and the Internet has exploded as a result. You'd think it was the second coming of Christ instead of a self-absorbed actress deigning to talk about herself to a popular publication - but here I am throwing my hat in the ring, so I guess I can shut my trap and get on with it! Angelina is doing the full-court press to promote
Salt, her next action flick. It's interesting to note, as we all know, that the lead role in
Salt was
initially penned with Tom Cruise in mind - the same Tom Cruise who is
crashing and burning at the box office right now with
Knight & Day. Will Jolie not only snag his job, but breeze by him with a larger box office take as well? Most likely. Get ready to get owned, Cruise! Jolie is reportedly quite candid with
Vanity Fair (all the better to generate more press), and you can read in more detail about her interview by clicking on the
VF link above. I, myself, am more focused on a particular portion of the interview that caught my eye. It sounds so dang familiar, I just have to talk about it:
[Despite her dedication to her work, she thinks she won't do
it much longer: "It's not the most important thing in my life. Acting helped me
as I was growing up. It helped me learn about myself, helped me travel, helped
me understand life, express myself, all those wonderful things. So I'm very,
very grateful, it's a fun job. It's a luxury. Look, I'm at work today in the
middle of Venice. But I don't think I'll do it much longer." Jolie says this
reassessment is mostly due to her family: "Because I have a happy home....I got
back from work last night, and everybody was playing music and dancing and I
suddenly found myself dancing around with a bunch of little fun crazy people."]
Huh. That's interesting because it's now 2010 and here's what she said in 2008 (from
Us Weekly, via
Celebitchy):
[Angelina Jolie says she plans to give up acting to be a
full-time mother. "I don't plan to keep acting very long. I'm ready to do a
few things now and fade away and get ready to be a grandma one day," she tells
BBC News in a new interview. "I'm not so worried that I want to keep this pace
up and try to be something and be a celebrity."
She says she's lucky to take on great roles but "everything
comes in seasons. I hopefully won't be needing to do that later in my life
anyway," she adds. The 33-year-old Changeling star -- who says she won't work
for a year after she returns to work in February -- stresses, "I don't think
I'll ever say I'm never, ever gonna work because maybe there's that interesting
project where I feel creative. "I like being home a lot," the mother of six adds. "First
and foremost, I have a lot of children, and I need to make sure they're growing
right and they've got us there for them."]
Of course we all know that she hasn't been home a lot. Instead she chose to film The Tourist with Johnny Depp. Yep, this is the same Angelina who's recently agreed to helm the epic remake of Cleopatra, one of the most notoriously difficult films of all time. Gossip Cop says:
[Angelina Jolie is involved in the development of a new film
about the life of Cleopatra. Film producer Scott Rudin bought the rights to Stacy
Schiff's new book Cleopatra: A Life. The resulting movie project "is being
developed for and with Jolie."
A rep for Rudin confirms to Gossip Cop that Jolie is
involved in the film's development. Schiff herself endorses Jolie in a potential role as the
Egyptian queen. "Physically, she's the perfect look," says the author. A famed 1963 version of Cleopatra's life starred Elizabeth
Taylor.]
Oh, Jolie is also attached to a Tim Burton re-imaging of Sleeping Beauty as Maleficent and will play Patricia Cornwell's Dr. Kay Scarpetta in several films. So, if this is retirement, it must be of the Jay-Z variety.
Angelina is noted for several things, among them her ability to work without a publicist while relying heavily on the advice of manager Geyer Kosinski. The two create a formidable team when it comes to manipulating Jolie's image to the public. My question is: why constantly insist Angelina is retiring when she clearly has no intention to do so? Jolie already has a reputation as a liar; from not being honest about when she hooked up with Brad Pitt to how many sexual partners she's had. So why lie about this, a thing so easily refutable that it took ten-minutes of research to disprove? Kosinski and Jolie win - this tactic has me completely baffled.
[Vanity Fair Cover: Retirement - a "fresh" angle over man-eater and humanitarian?]
We can all breathe a sigh of relief - America's Sweetheart, Sandra Bullock, will be tainted no more! Sandra has just finalized her divorce from the evil Vanilla Gorilla, aka Jesse James. And not a moment too soon, as many had begun to question whether or not Bullock would dare reunite with James - a move that would ignite a public relations nightmare, if nothing else. Apparently that doesn't seem to be the case. Papers are sealed, but the marriage is reportedly over. Details, via Us Magazine: 
