Angelina Jolie is the daughter of Academy Award winner Jon Voight and French actress Marcheline Bertrand, who divorced when
she was very young. Angelina lived in Palisades, New York, with her mother and brother James until she was ten, when they relocated to Los Angeles. At sixteen, Angelina moved across the street from her mother and immersed herself in theatre. She trained and performed at the Lee Strasberg Theatre Institute, and studied under Jan Tarrant in New York, and Silvana Gallardo in L.A.. For a time she did modelling work in London, New York and Los Angeles, and has appeared in several music videos.

After playing the title role in HBO's Gia, Angelina gave up acting and moved to New York City, where she registered at NYU's film school. Acting however, was in her blood, and she returned to Hollywood just a year later. She made a huge impact on fans and critics with her compelling performance in Girl, Interrupted, which went on to nab her an Oscar. As if her fanbase wasn't large enough, Angelina's popularity skyrocketted when she doned shorts, guns and a honking long ponytail to play Lara Croft in Tomb Raider, based on the mega-popular PlayStation game of the same title. Angelina likes tattoos, skydiving, and has a knife collection which originates from a childhood love for Renaissance fairs.