ANGELINA JOLIE: TOP SEXIEST HOLLYWOOD ACTRESS

ANGELINA JOLIE: TOP SEXIEST HOLLYWOOD ACTRESS

ANGELINA JOLIE: TOP SEXIEST HOLLYWOOD ACTRESS

ANGELINA JOLIE: TOP SEXIEST HOLLYWOOD ACTRESS

Jolie appeared in the media from an early age due to her famous father Jon Voight. At seven she had a small part in Lookin' to Get Out, a movie co-written by and starring her father, and in 1986 and 1988 she attended the Academy Awards with him. However, when she started her acting career, Jolie decided not to use "Voight" as a stage name, because she wished to establish her own identity as an actress.[71] Jolie was never shy about controversy and integrated her teenage "wild girl" image into her public persona in the first years of her career. During her acceptance speech at the 2000 Academy Awards, Jolie declared, "I'm so in love with my brother right now", which, combined with her affectionate behavior towards him that night, sparked speculation in the tabloid media of an incestuous relationship with her brother James Haven. She has denied those rumors vehemently, and Jolie and Haven later explained in interviews that after their parents' divorce they relied on one another and because of that they hold on to each other as a means of emotional support.[71]

Jolie does not employ a publicist or an agent.[91] She quickly became a tabloid's favorite, since she presented herself as very outspoken in interviews, discussing her love life and her interest in BDSM openly,[12] and once claiming to be "most likely to sleep with a female fan".[74] As one of her most distinctive physical features, Jolie's lips have attracted notable media attention and she was described in 2007 as "the current gold standard of beauty in the states and in the West in general right now", being the embodiment of "the exotic look, like Halle Berry and Penelope Cruz", among women seeking cosmetic surgery;[92] it was also noted that her association with Brad Pitt had "accentuated" the frequency of requests for Jolie's looks.[92] She also created headlines with her much publicized marriage to Billy Bob Thornton and her subsequent change into an advocate for global humanitarian problems. As she took on the role of UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador she started to use her celebrity to highlight humanitarian causes worldwide. Jolie has been taking flying lessons since 2004 and she has a private pilot license (with an instrument rating) and owns a Cirrus SR22 airplane.[93] The media speculated that Jolie is a Buddhist, but she said that she teaches Buddhism to her son Maddox because she considers it part of his culture. When asked in 2000 if there was a God, she said, "For the people who believe in it, I hope so. There doesn't need to be a God for me."[94]
Jolie and Pitt at the 81st Academy Awards in February 2009

Starting in 2005, her relationship with Brad Pitt became one of the most reported celebrity stories worldwide. After Jolie confirmed her pregnancy in early 2006, the unprecedented media hype surrounding them "reached the point of insanity" as Reuters described it in their story "The Brangelina fever".[95] Trying to avoid the media attention, the couple went to Namibia for the birth of Shiloh, "the most anticipated baby since Jesus Christ", as it had been described.[96] Two years later, Jolie's second pregnancy again fueled a media frenzy. For the two weeks she spent in a seaside hospital in Nice, reporters and photographers camped outside on the promenade to report on the birth.[97]

Today, Jolie is one of the best known celebrities around the world. According to the Q Score, in 2000, subsequent to her Oscar win, 31% of respondents in the United States said Jolie was familiar to them, by 2006 she was familiar to 81% of Americans.[53] In a 2006 global industry survey by ACNielsen in 42 international markets Jolie, together with Brad Pitt, was found to be the favorite celebrity endorser for brands and products worldwide.[98] Jolie was among the Time 100, a list of the 100 most influential people in the world, in 2006 and 2008.[99][100] She was described as the world's most beautiful woman in the 2006 "100 Most Beautiful" issue of People,[1] voted the greatest sex symbol of all time in the British Channel 4 television show The 100 Greatest Sex Symbols in 2007,[2] and named "Most beautiful woman in the world" by Vanity Fair in 2009.[6] The Hollywood Reporter named Jolie the highest-paid actress of 2008, earning $15 million per film.[101] She also topped Forbes' annual Celebrity 100 list in 2009;[102] she had previously been ranked No. 14 in 2007,[103] and No. 3 in 2008.[104] Angelina Jolie was named one of the 50 People Who Matter 2010 by New Statesman Magazine