‘Couture’ Star Angelina Jolie Reveals Why the Film About Women’s Cancer Is Very Personal to Her

The film is taking place during the Fashion Week in Paris, and it's the destiny of these three women crossing each other. The idea was, in this world of appearances, of the excitement of a preparation of a show, the idea was to highlight their secret wants. And they are all struggling. Maxine Walker, the character played by Angelina, who is a horror movie director who arrives to direct a film for a fashion show. And when she arrives, she learns something that confronts her to her own mortality. And I'm teasing your character, Ada. Ania is playing Ada, a young Sudanese model. It's her first Fashion Week. They are all outside of this world, of the fashion world. And they arrive, and she's discovering this world with all of these oddities. Ella is the makeup artist. And so she's covering all the wounds. And yes, she's also in a very particular time of her life. So yes, it was following all of those three women. I like to dive in a world I don't know for film. I didn't know anything about fashion. And I spent one year and a half in the backstage of fashion shows. I met a lot of people behind the images, like models, makeup artists, fit models, also seamstresses. And I got interested by this world. And yes, it was also, to me, the world of fashion is related to the fragility, the idea of the passing of time. Because I think fashion is about, you know, like obsessed by this. It's a kind of frantic race against time, like next collection, next season. And there is very strongly this passion of death, which was echoing to me the past of Angelina's character, who learns that she has a cancer. It's pointing a bit the film, but it's easier to understand. Yes, so there was this idea. The film, I thought about it as a memento mori, as a film about the fragility of life. I was really, I was very touched when I read it. And I think when something is beautifully layered and complex, you don't even understand first when you read why. Why it takes you, why you're so moved by it. Because it's a very layered story and very subtle and beautifully written. And it makes you think, which I think all really strong art does. Of course, it's very personal to me. And women's health and women's cancers are very personal to me. And women's relationships, you know, are, I think, important to explore. Especially, I thought it was interesting in an industry, in a film that centers on an industry that seems very dividing and judgmental and separate. That it really is so much about our shared experiences and our connection. But I think what I found most beautiful was that it's how you live through these things. And I think there's many things happening today, and every single person watching can relate. There has been something in your life where you just weren't sure you're going to make it through. And you, it's, you're going to test yourself. You're going to either fold or you're going to push through. And so, in many ways, it's about life. So, I thought this was good to put forward to people. I think it's something that I think for many people may be healing. Maybe makes them think about these moments not as an end, certainly for cancer in this. It's not as a film where it's about sitting in rooms and deciding it's the end of your life. It's very, very much about continuing to live through life. I think with Maxine and I think each of our characters are on a similar path. I think it's what unites us. She works really hard. I speak very little and I'm super shy. I understand more than I speak. She's French now. And I have continued some of my classes, but I'm still super shy. But I did, yeah, many, you know, the months leading up, we did classes. And for, not just for the lines, but to just be speaking and then through it. I think when I did my ADR, I was better, no? Yeah. My French had improved. She's going to do the promo in France, in French. You know, I did my dubbing. I'd never done this for a film. She did the whole film in French. I did my own dubbing. Thanks, guys. See the supportive team? Well, I wasn't as new, but also, when something's well-written, whether it's in another language or in English, it's well-written, it just comes forward easily. The script is very well-written. But I think what was interesting is the scenes with the doctor, because I think there's something for anyone trying to understand when a doctor is saying, you need chemotherapy, even in your own language, is a moment of, you know, trying to understand. There was something quite unusual about being with Vincent and in French. Yeah. You don't speak the same language. Yeah, and it's somehow very symbolic. Reality, it's two worlds. You know, it did something extra. And I'm sure you've had this because of many different languages and moments where you're, in trying to understand, it's not just the language, but it's the interpretation and the nuance of what someone is really saying. Ada's story is very special for me, and it's very personal because it's inspired by my own story. So going through Ada's journey just took me back to where I was two, three years ago now. It's a story that is very common to so many girls who are from where I'm from, which is South Sudan and Kenya and so many other parts of Africa. So I took up this role and I wanted to give my best, despite the fact that I had no background in acting whatsoever. And I was acting with very acclaimed actors. So it was special because I really wanted to tell this story, specifically because it would inspire so many girls back at home and so many girls who I know wanted to get into chasing their dreams, but they can't because of cultural differences or cultural expectations, familial ties. And with Ada's story, you can see that she goes beyond the family bond that she has with her parents just to chase what she knew she wanted, but she did not know what she wanted at the same time because she's pretty young and she's just immersing herself into a world she knows nothing about. But she's brave. And of course, she's a risk taker, which you pick up as you watch. They both are risk takers. Yeah, we both are. And it's like Maxine and Ada are very connected in ways that they're both in a world they know nothing about. Same thing with Angel. It comes up at some point. Yeah, but what you see is purpose and drive and what you see is a strong woman. And you realize that despite the fact that we're from different parts of the world, we are all kind of going through the exact same thing. Despite the cultural differences, it's a very powerful way to tell that story. And I think Maxine's character speaks to a different audience. So does Angel's character and so does Ada's character. So it's kind of worldwide and it's very special. It's like the same character, also at different ages. I mean, you can see all those women as the same woman. I met actually a few makeup artists with whom I exchanged and practiced on a lot of faces to put on makeup and tried to just get a hand on what it means actually to get close to people when you draw them. And it's very interesting. It really made me understand even more actually the beauty of this job. But also like what a lot of people actually... How hard that work can be behind the scenes actually and how important these people are. I was very moved by that and also like how... For Angel's character, I felt just that it was a conflict between wanting to make the women feel good and beautiful and at the same time also feel a certain pain for them to be in that situation and how you accompany them through that process. And so it was interesting just talking to different makeup artists, how they perceive and how they look actually at the people they work with. And I thought it was really interesting for Angel to see just that, how she sort of just tries to find purpose in actually exposing the voice of the people she meets and tries to find depth actually in a world that can contain a lot of emptiness and who drains the human and the soul in a certain way. And yeah, it was very beautiful then to get into getting to know Anier and Angelina. No, but it was I think very important for us to have a female perspective also on that world because fashion has been described in films mostly it's on a male point of view, you know, from talking about artistic directors or... And so yes, it was very important for us to talk from like a point of view that haven't been shared. It's a film I think also that talks about women's solidarity I think and I think and hope in a way. It's about beauty and death, which are mixed in life. But I hope it will give like some hope to women, especially now when we see all women's rights are attacked.