As a world renowned American actress and filmmaker, Angelina Jolie has always lived her life in the glare of the spotlight and has received countless accolades to prove it. Throughout her career, she has taken on roles as engaging as as they are varied, but it seems that it is in the pursuit of her humanitarian passions and charity projects that she has found her true calling.
Born in 1975 to actor parents and raised primarily by her mother, she was encouraged from the start to follow her parents’ footsteps. She once said "When I was growing up, I remember my mom telling me how she wanted to be an actress and my grandmother wanted to be an actress and she was so excited that I could be an actress. I never really thought I could be anything else and I never really questioned it."
As such, she began acting at a young age and made her screen debut in 1982. She was cast in her first leading role when she was just 20 and became one of Hollywood’s marquee names, with starring roles in films such as Mr. And Mrs. Smith, Salt, Wanted, and Tomb Raider.
But these roles didn’t only lead to fame and fortune. It was while filming Tomb Raider in Cambodia that she first became truly aware of worldwide humanitarian crises. “We cannot close ourselves off to information and ignore the fact that millions of people are out there suffering. I honestly want to help. I don’t believe I feel differently from other people. I think we all want justice and equality, a chance for a life with meaning. All of us would like to believe that if we were in a bad situation, someone would help us,” she said.
Since then, she has adopted three children from Cambodia, Vietnam, and Ethiopia. She also founded the Maddox Jolie-Pitt Foundation dedicated to achieving environmental security, peace, and stability in all communities by planning and implementing interventions that prevent negative environmental changes.
She received a Global Humanitarian Action Award from the United Nations for her activism in support of refugee rights, especially as goodwill ambassador and special envoy, and for her ability to draw attention to global problems. More recently, during the coronavirus pandemic, she donated $1 million to a charity addressing childhood hunger. And this is only a small sample of her humanitarian achievements.
However, it isn’t so much her accomplishments that impress, but how she has matured into a role model, showing that it is possible to live your dream while still devoting yourself to helping others.