Born to Jon Voight and Marcheline Bertrand, Jolie had a rather tough childhood after her parents’ separation in 1976. Their single mother, who sustained the family on a modest income, brought up Jolie and her brother. At eleven Jolie returned to Los Angeles with her family and got herself enrolled in Lee Strasberg Theatre Institute.
During her days at Beverly Hills High School, she was often teased for her distinctive features by the students. After facing initial disappointment from modeling, Jolie decided to be a Funeral Director. During this phase of life Jolie developed a habit of hurting herself with sharp things.
All this while she had an estranged relationship with her actor father Jon Voight. The relationship went on to sour to such an extent that she dropped her surname `Voight` legally in September 2002.
Even though her professional movie career began in 1993, when she played her first leading role in the low-budget film ‘Cyborg 2’, her international success came with the role of Lara Croft in ‘Lara Croft: Tomb Raider’ (2001).