Angelina Jolie Dazzles at SBIFF Opening Celebrity Awards Tribute

An irresistible combination of otherworldly beauty grounded in down-to-earth vulnerability and caring has made Angelina Jolie a superstar practically from the first time she hit the big screen. Receiving the prestigious 2025 SBIFF Maltin Modern Master Award, Jolie had a far-reaching conversation with Leonard Maltin about her life and career at the tribute festivities on February 5, thoughtfully responding to questions with a mesmerizingly zen-like grace.

Greeting the sold out crowd by thanking them for being there, Jolie reflected on some of her experiences as an actor, including playing the archeologist-adventurer Lara Croft.  “I think back on my life and all the things I almost didn’t do, I almost missed. I said no to Tomb Raider the first time,” she said. “And then they said ‘you can travel the world and train with the British military.’ And I said ‘I will wear the shorts for the first five minutes of the movie and that’s it.’ And that’s what happened.”

That film was her first exposure to Cambodia, a place which has since become very important in her humanitarian work, her filmmaking, and her family, as she adopted her first child Maddox from an orphanage in Battambang, Cambodia.

She talked candidly about her struggles with fame and being in the spotlight. In terms of the characters and roles she’s selected, Jolie said, “I think I’m close to almost everybody I’ve played. I think of it as removing a part of yourself.”

Among the many roles and films she and Maltin discussed were Hackers (with her ex-husband Jonny Lee Miller, who she said she’s still friendly with), Gia, Salt, Maleficent, The Good Shepard, Unbroken (which she directed), Changeling, and her most recent role in Pablo Larraín’s Maria, portraying the late opera singer Maria Callas. Jolie did her own singing in the difficult role, about which she said, “You can’t fake sing opera. Because you can see, it’s like fake screaming. Your body does something very specific. Your mouth, your throat… It’s not something you can kind of do.”

Director Ava Duvernay presented Jolie with the award at the end of the evening, offering plenty of praise for her friend, she said, “Angelina’s career is a testament to the power of cinema that centers risk, reinvention, and reflection.”

For more information on upcoming SBIFF events see sbiff.org.