Career Retrospective: Angelina Jolie

Angelina Jolie has had an enviable Hollywood career. She’s been awarded an Oscar, two SAG Awards, three Golden Globes and has proved herself a formidable filmmaker and director. With ‘By the Sea,’ which she wrote, directed and stars in opposite Brad Pitt, let’s take a look at some of her most memorable film contributions.

In a true star-making performance, Jolie plays Gia Carangi, supermodel/tragic figure. Jolie captivated audiences and critics with her raw vulnerability. The role won her a Golden Globe… and a spot at the top of the A-list.

This was supposed to be Winona Ryder’s film, but Jolie stole the movie right out from underneath her, winning an Academy Award, Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild Award for her portrayal of an unhinged patient in a mental institution.

Jolie brought the buxom and badass video game heroine Lara Croft to life in this action-adventure franchise. The reviews weren’t kind, but the box office sure was. (The sequel? Not so much.)

Also known as the movie where Jolie met her now-husband, Brad Pitt. Looking at her in this sexy assassin-undercover outfit, we wonder what he could’ve possibly seen in her…

In this adaptation of Mariane Pearl’s memoir, Jolie turned in a much-praised performance as the author who undergoes a harrowing journey to find her missing husband who is kidnapped in Pakistan.

What would you do if your missing son, returned to you, was clearly not your child? If you’re Angelina Jolie, you turn in a riveting and sympathetic performance.

A sort of ‘Matrix’-lite, Jolie played a super assassin/member of a secret society who brings James McAvoy’s wimpy cubicle monkey in for train-running, car-chasing and bullet-curving.

In this hit action-thriller, Jolie plays Evelyn Salt, a CIA officer who is accused of being a Russian spy on a mission to assassinate the president. As she clears her name, she handily takes down the secret agents on her tail even though she’s half their size.

This gripping drama was written, produced and directed by Jolie, a film that prompted critic Roger Ebert to declare, “Angelina Jolie deserves admiration for making ‘In the Land of Blood and Honey’ as her first filmmaking project… Jolie has courage and convictions.”

Jolie received high praise for her directing turn, bringing American Olympian runner Louis Zamperini’s harrowing, epic saga to life. Many feel she was unjustly snubbed by the Oscars by not receiving a Best Director nom.

As the iconic evil queen Maleficent, Jolie is both terrifying and touching in this dark tale about a woodland fairy transformed into a vengeful villain after an act of violence against her. Jolie also served as executive producer on the film.