Guest-editing Radio 4’s Today programme, the actor joked she has no skeletons left in her closet
Angelina Jolie has not ruled out a move into
politics, joking she has no skeletons left in her closet that could derail a run for office.
The Hollywood star pondered her future as she guest-edited
BBC Radio 4’s flagship Today programme. She told presenter
Justin Webb she “can take a lot on the chin”.
He asked her: “I’m not necessarily getting you to run for president on the programme, but are you moving in a direction of politics?”
The Oscar-winner, 43, replied: “If you asked me 20 years ago I would’ve laughed. I really don’t know. I always say I’ll go where I’m needed. I don’t know if I’m fit for politics ... but then I’ve also joked that I don’t know if I have a skeleton left in my closet.
“So I’m pretty open and out there,” said the actor, who had an acrimonious split with Brad Pitt. “I can take a lot on the chin so that’s good. But I honestly will do whatever I think can really make change.”
Jolie, a special envoy for the UN’s refugee agency, the UNHCR, added: “Right now, I am able to work with a UN agency ... to do a lot of work directly with the people in need.
“I’m also able to work with governments, so I sit in a very interesting place of being able to get a lot done, without a title and without it being about myself or my policies. So for now I’ll sit quiet.”
She laughed as Webb suggested she could be on the list of 30 to 40 Democrats running for the party’s presidential nomination.
Jolie, who has six children, admitted being wild and a “bit of a young punk” in her youth, but said: “I don’t feel I’ve changed much at all.”
The Chinese artist Ai Weiwei and the Nobel peace prize-winner and Congolese gynaecologist Denis Mukwege were among those to feature in her programme.
Previous guest editors over the years have included Prince Harry, Sir Lenny Henry and Sir Richard Branson. The veteran broadcaster David Dimbleby, who stepped down as the host of Question Time after 25 years, was the first of this year’s guest editors.