Angelina Jolie talks about how playing slain newsman Daniel Pearl’s wife in A Mighty Heart has taught her to become a more tolerant person.

In A Mighty Heart, Angelina Jolie plays the wife of journalist Daniel Pearl who was kidnapped and beheaded by militants in Pakistan. Playing the part of real-life mother and widow Mariane Pearl has also given Angelina time and reason to reflect on her own situation as a parent and a partner.

Meeting Mariane seems to have clearly had an effect on the star. While she hasn’t gone through the loss of a husband at the hands of murderers or the kidnap of one of her children, Angelina has found much in common with Mariane – a woman she now counts as a friend.

What made you want to do this movie?
You know, even on the first day of shooting I was very hesitant and scared to do this movie. I didn’t think I would be good enough to pull it off. But I felt it was such an important thing to do and I believe very much in the message behind this story and the people in it.

Were there things in this movie that you just didn’t want to know or see, like the beheading video?
No, I would never go near that video. Just out of respect for Mariane and Danny. I think any acknowledgement of things like that tends to encourage more of that.

There’s a moment in the movie where you scream at the realisation that your husband has been beheaded. How do you summon up that emotion?
There are certain things that make you emotional and remind you of the saddest things in your life. I tried not to think of any one thing but I’m sure images of my own mum, who was sick at the time, and thoughts of anything happening to people that I love...my kids. You know, just all of that.

What did you learn about yourself, playing Mariane in A Mighty Heart?
I learned to be more tolerant. Though I think of myself as an open and tolerant person, I am quick to anger. I don’t know if I would have had the strength to go through what Mariane did. Especially when she went public, saying that even Pakistanis are being given the same treatment as her husband. I couldn’t understand how she could say that. So I learned from her the importance of having dialogue and trying to take the higher ground to find solutions. That’s a big lesson for me.

Any thoughts about Oscars for this movie?
Oh, please don’t bring that up. All that kind of stuff is fun and nice, and sort of icing on the cake. But if we are not acknowledged for awards, it means nothing, because we made the film we cared about. That’s all that matters.

Are you and Brad going to do any more movies together?
I don’t know. We were joking before that nobody’s gonna watch the children if we both go to work at the same time. But yeah, maybe, if we can find something.