Angelina Jolie Explains Why She Chose The Tourist
Posted 11.12.10 by Ryan
In the upcoming The Tourist, Angelina Jolie plays an Interpol Agent who lures an American tourist (Johnny Depp) into danger in order to trap a criminal. The part was originally set to be played by Charlize Theron, but eventually went to Jolie. In an interview with Vogue, Jolie described her attraction to the project.
I was looking for a very short thing to do before Brad [Pitt] started filming [Moneyball], and I said I needed something that shoots not too long, in a nice location for my family. Somebody said there’s a script that’s been around, and it shoots in Venice and Paris. And I said, "Is it a character I haven’t played before?" And they said, "Yes, it’s a lady."
With Jolie aboard and Theron out, a replacement was required for the departures of Bharat Nalluri and The Lives of Others, she felt that the German director was right for the job.
I couldn’t believe it that he was open to doing it, and then we found out that Johnny was open to doing it. So what was always this tiny idea to do a little film in Europe suddenly became this . . . bigger movie.
Von Donnersmarck agreed, mostly on the intrigue of working with Jolie. "Literally, she gets every single script that has a female role aged between eighteen and 40," von Donnersmarck told the magazine. "Every script. And she just follows her feeling, holds her own counsel. She’s probably the only global megastar that doesn’t even have an agent—she doesn’t even have a publicist."
Next Showing: The Tourist opens December 10