Interview by: Jennifer Krieger JenniferKrieger@TheCinemaSource.com

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When posed with the question 'what movie scares you' Angelina Jolie and Ethan Hawke give answers that are as striking in their disparity as in they are in their ability to reveal the personality of each star. Jolie admits with a rueful pride that she 'doesn't watch movies', and Hawke rattles of a list that is pure Hollywood: The Shining, The Exorcist, Seven, Fatal Attraction, and Silence of the Lambs. In their answers each celebrity lives up to their respective public identity; Jolie is the rebellious wild-child, reveling in her ability to say 'screw-you' to Hollywood and still be such a popular star. Hawke's extensive list presents him as the 'grateful star,' one who graciously acknowledges the legends of the silver screen and his current peers with equal fervor. Hawke, it would seem, knows his place in the giant Hollywood machine; he knows how to play the game of pandering to directors, to stars and to reporters;Jolie couldn't care less. And Hawke is known for being a reliable, if un-exciting actor, whereas Jolie, in both her roles and her personal life is never less then enthralling.

Angelina Jolie and Ethan Hawke have strikingly different tactic for fielding questions from the press. On the junket to promote their new movie Taking Lives both endured questions that veered from their experience on the film to delve into to their personal lives. Yet despite Hawke's recent split from Uma Thurman and Jolie's much-speculated love-life, both emerged relatively unscathed. Jolie is no longer solely associated with the 'bad-girl' image that her tattoos, her roles and her marriage to Billy-Bob Thornton garnered her. 'I've made a choice not to have a man in my life' she states without hesitation and he finds it both 'funny and ridiculous' to see how many people the tabloids present her as dating. Indeed, the new love of her life is her son Maddox whom she references constantly during the interview; she seems very determined to define herself not as a celebrity, not as an actress, but as a mother first and foremost. Her answer to the question: To her dismissal of movie-watching, Jolie adds that the only thing that scares her is 'something happening to someone I love.' Reminiscing about her glamorous turn at the Oscars Jolie laughs and says 'I left an hour early, went to 'In-and-out Burger' and went home to my kid.

Although Jolie emphasizes that she doesn't take her work home with her because 'she's got kid,' she does speak about the preparation that went into her performance as in Taking Lives. In trying to get inside the head of a woman that was consumed by brutal, graphic crimes, Jolie worked with a real FBI profiler, observing how she tried to get inside the 'head of the crime,' inside the mind of someone who was capable of such brutality. Jolie observed the way the woman was consumed with her work, unable to escape it and tried to bring that sense of isolation and obsession to the part. Jolie also admits to incorporating some of her own darker sides, her tendency to be 'dark, not moody' but 'lost in thought' and her annoyance with having to be light and say 'I'm fine.'

And Jolie admits to having had a darker side, allowing that she has, like her character, allowed herself to 'go through a phase where (I) was consumed by life;' in her desire to experience everything Jolie may have lost her way, but with her son, her extensive volunteer work and her acclaimed reputation as an actress, Jolie seems both grounded and centered. Perhaps the most compelling evidence for her newly-found sense of self is her answer to the question of what she's going to do with her time off. 'I'm going to learn to fly a plane,' she says, 'and take my son to school.'

Aside from Jolie's off-hand comment about the absurdity of how the press presents her love life and a tongue-in-cheek remark about how she is supposedly dating 'the entire cast', no reference is made to the rumored romance between the two stars. Ethan Hawke does say that his admiration of Angelina was one of the reasons he choose to do the movie, along with the appeal of doing something 'completely different,' of taking on such a 'difficult and challenging part.' Hawke is drawn to '(characters) that had completely let go of conscience'..the thrill of exploring those kinds of characters.' He muses over our culture's 'obsession with deviance' and remarks 'we all try so hard to maintain ability and control in our lives;' it's hard not to place weight on these statements and attach them to Hawke's personal life. Hawke admits that he was able to bring a sense of 'unhappiness with his self and desire to be someone else' to the role. Indeed Hawke's skin may be thinner then Jolie's and as the interview progresses, he is more easily provoked and exasperated by questions. Is he emotionally vulnerable with the public' 'No, with myself', he replies. 'So much has been written (about my life) I try to answer questions as honestly as possible' and he gently admonishes the press, 'idle gossip is not terribly and for any of us.' Finally, his personal life is 'really nobody's business'

Hawke's 'tool for survival' is to 'orient myself around my work' and whereas Jolie tries hard not to be defined solely by her profession, Hawke seems to take refuge in his role as an actor, director or writer. Yet he scoffs at the idea that he is something of a renaissance man for taking on all these roles. Saying they're 'in the same vein'.acting and directing are so similar, (they're) both interpretive.' And 'writing brings me stability.' But Hawke is first and foremost an actor; 'Acting is my first love' he states and then muses, 'if I know about anything at all, its acting'.

If Hawke finds solace from the vulture-esque press and the tumult of his personal life in his work, Jolie seems to throw herself into her work with such intensity that her life outside acting, her son and her volunteer work, provides that necessary escape. Yet despite their different approaches to their job, both Jolie and Hawke are both talented performers and where they diverge in method they come together in their devotion to their craft, their love for their work and their ability to capture the audience.