Oscar rumors are already buzzing for Angelina Jolie. Her interpretation of Mariane Pearl in A Mighty Heart has people already carving out her name on that golden statue. In one of her many recent interviews about the film, Angelina opens up about learning new accents, the pressure to please Mariane and trying not "to be stupid" when selecting countries for her children to visit.
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What kind of responsibility or pressure did you feel playing Mariane Pearl?

Huge pressure -- so much so that I didn't sleep the night before and I questioned myself through the entire process of making this film. I respected her before I met her, when I saw how she handled the situation as just a viewer watching CNN. She's the last person I would want to disappoint in any way. How did you meet her? Our initial meeting was before the film -- we just had a play date. So the film was very much a second thought in our relationship. How did you go from friendship to wanting to do a film about her? It all just kind of magically came together. I had met her separately. She had talked to Brad [Pitt, the film's co-producer] about a film. Brad and I later came together. [But] we were in no rush to do it because it seemed so delicate and so difficult.

Are accents easy or hard for you? You¹ve done a lot of roles with accents.

Some are easier than others. This one was a really hard one for me. I kept going too French or then too Cuban. And she has such a direct voice and she¹s such an honest speaker, [it was hard] to find a way to not let an accent get in the way.

What's it like working with a director [Michael Winterbottom] who doesn't rehearse and encourages improvising?

The best thing was it caught us in raw, honest moments, and that¹s what the film needed and why it works. The hard thing was improvising facts about a case -- you have to be so accurate and technical. You just have to know everything.

Would you say this is your best work since "Girl, Interrupted"?

I think I'm happy to have something that I¹m proud of, that says something that I support, that I think is important to do and not just entertaining and silly. I¹ve not been so focused on my career these days, anyway, so I'm happy to have something that I think turned out well.

How do you stay safe when you¹re traveling in countries that are not considered safe for Westerners?

I try not to be stupid. I've [been asked] why do you go to a place that's dangerous when you have children? And I say I do no service to my children by staying home and allowing the world to be what it is.