Angelina Jolie spoke about her aspirations to begin a pretty morbid career before she turned to Hollywood to become an actress.
Actress Angelina Jolie had a surprising and pretty morbid dream job before going to Hollywood to become a movie star.
The 49-year-old bombshell, who stars as opera singer Maria Callas in the new biographical drama film, once thought of becoming a funeral director.
Jolie spoke about her first career choice during the latest episode of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, her first late-night talk show appearance in a decade.
In a preview shared with People, the Oscar winner confirmed to host Jimmy Fallon her aspirations to become a funeral director.
“You’re an incredible actor, but I saw some things online. I was wondering if I could ask you if these rumors are true of other careers that you might have had,” said Fallon. “I’d be interested to see if any of these are real.”
“I’m interested too. Okay,” Jolie said smiling.
Fallon goes on: “First of all, is it true that prior to acting you were studying to become a funeral director?”
“Yes,” replied Jolie, to Fallon’s surprise. She joked with a laugh: “Doesn’t it make sense though?”
The actress went on to explain: “My grandfather died, and I remember thinking this is not how they should be. This should be a celebration of life. And since I’m not afraid of death and I was comfortable with it, I thought, ‘This would be a great career path for me. … I could, like, make this better. I could do a thing here.'”
“Yes,” said Fallon. “We need more people like that.” Jolie then joked: “It’s my fall-back career now.”
In 2011, the mother-of-six also explained her wishes of becoming a funeral director on 60 Minutes.
“It sounds like this very strange, eccentric, dark thing to do. But, in fact, I lost my grandfather and I was very upset with his funeral,” Jolie said at the time.
She added: “So we discussed that maybe there are ways where this whole idea of how somebody passes and how a family deals with this passing and what death is should be addressed in a different way.
“If this acting thing didn’t work out, that was gonna be my backup.”
Jolie decided to follow in her father, Jon Voight’s footsteps and pursue acting.
Jolie has had an incredible career in Hollywood. In her early career, Jolie won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for the 1999 drama Girl, Interrupted.
A few years later, she earned worldwide fame thanks to her portrayal of Lara Croft in the Tomb Raider film series in 2001 and 2003.
Some of her other notable films include Mr. & Mrs. Smith, which she starred in with her ex Brad Pitt, Wanted, Salt, and Maleficent.
Recently, she shared that, unlike the late singer she portrays in Maria, she doesn’t believe her career opportunities have diminished with age — rather, the opposite.
“I’ve got better work as I’ve got older,” the Hollywood star revealed to The Sunday Times in a new interview.
“I don’t think about it in terms of roles offered, but in terms of life experience, you contribute,” Jolie clarified.
She added: “It’s easier for actors than singers or dancers because your body doesn’t change.”
While disagreeing with her character Maria’s fear of getting older, the Lara Croft actress admired her “commitment” to work.
“I’m a hard worker,” she declared, before noting: “And a deeply feeling person.”
“Maria is vulnerable because she feels and isn’t sometimes able to protect herself from the loneliness or emotional pain. Because it’s part of her life and work to be extremely human and live that way,” Angelina continued.
“You live through your communication with the audience. For Maria and for me, that has always been extremely important,” the actress also went on to point out.
