<p id=”par-1_38″><a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/tag/angelina-jolie/”>Angelina Jolie</a> once shared that her classic action flick <em>Tomb Raider </em>was a very rewarding <a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/entertainment/angelina-jolie-shared-felt-free-tomb-raider.html/”>and freeing experience</a>. So much so that even after years of doing the project, she still considered <em>Tomb Raider </em>her most impactful movie.</p>
<h2 class=”wp-block-heading” id=”h-how-tomb-raider-changed-angelina-jolie-s-life”>How ‘Tomb Raider’ changed Angelina Jolie’s life</h2>
<figure class=”wp-block-image size-full” id=”emb-1″><img decoding=”async” src=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/tomb-raider-angelina-Jolie.webp?strip=all&quality=80″ alt=”Angelina Jolie posing at the premiere of ‘Tomb Raider’ in a black dress.” class=”wp-image-3780422″><figcaption class=”wp-element-caption”>Angelina Jolie | Kevin Winter/Getty Images</figcaption></figure>
<p id=”par-2_55″><em>Tomb Raider </em>held a special place in Jolie’s heart. The character Lara Croft pushed Jolie in a way she’d never been challenged before. So much so that she <a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/entertainment/angelina-jolie-sat-tub-cried-role-tomb-raider.html/”>cried because of the role’s physicality</a>. Not only did she find out what she was capable of while filming, but she might’ve far exceeded her own expectations.</p>
<p id=”par-3_67″>“They had me on bunjis. I’m dog sledding. They had me up at seven each morning and handed me a protein shake. Suddenly, a nutritionist was giving me five meals a day. But you had to do these things to maintain your energy,” Jolie once told <a href=”https://www.cinema.com/articles/486/tomb-raider-interview-with-angelina-jolie.phtml”>Cinema</a>. “And I liked the intense training because there is only one way to do something and for me it’s in extremes.”</p>
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<p id=”par-4_46″>But additionally, <em>Tomb Raider </em>also introduced her to Cambodia, which she quickly fell in love with. Her journey in Cambodia would lead her to Maddox, <a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/entertainment/angelina-jolies-son-maddox-adoption-under-criticism.html/”>who’d she adopt</a>. These factors were why Jolie considered <em>Tomb Raider </em>her most impactful film in her filmography at one point.</p>
<p id=”par-5_118″>“The funniest and probably the truest example is <em>Lara Croft: Tomb Raider</em> because it was about other countries. It was about being physically strong, fit and focused,” she once said according to <a href=”https://ohnotheydidnt.livejournal.com/10062787.html”>Live Journal</a>. “So it got me healthy and let me travel to Cambodia. Cambodia changed my life. The next film let me travel to Africa. So in working with local people, you learn about these countries not just as a tourist. But I would say that Cambodia was the most significant one. Learning about land mines and refugees and the history of a country I knew very little about changed me and made me start to question. That was really the beginning of me questioning things.”</p>
<h2 class=”wp-block-heading” id=”h-angelina-jolie-s-baggage-helped-her-casting-in-tomb-raider”>Angelina Jolie’s baggage helped her casting in ‘Tomb Raider’</h2>
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<p id=”par-6_23″>Jolie initially wasn’t sold in doing <em>Tomb Raider </em>at first. However, she couldn’t pass up the adventure that the movie would’ve offered her.</p>
<p id=”par-7_112″>“I said, ‘I really didn’t feel like that character suited me.’ I actually didn’t at first want to do it; I said no,” Jolie said according to <a href=”https://collider.com/angelina-jolie-tomb-raider-interview/”>Collider</a>. “But they said you can travel the world and train with the British Military and so I had three months of seeing what I could do. And I would encourage anybody to do that. Sign up for as much as you can, give yourself a few months, push yourself to the limit and see, ‘What can I do?’ And you find that there’s a lot you didn’t know and some crazy, weird things you can do or you’re capable of, so I love it.”</p>
<p id=”par-8_52″>However, she had a questionable reputation at the time that the film’s executives were concerned about. Her <a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/entertainment/angelina-jolies-creepiest-romantic-gesture-involved-a-razorblade-and-her-ex-husbands-blood.html/”>creepy romantic gestures</a> to her ex Thornton was just one of the many reasons her behavior used to make headlines. But <em>Tomb Raider</em> director Simon West felt her notoriety could be used as an advantage.</p>
<p id=”par-9_40″>“She definitely had some baggage and something of a dark reputation,” West once said according to <a href=”https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/angelina-jolies-tomb-raider-drug-tests-book-excerpt-989249/”>The Hollywood Reporter.</a> “Funnily enough, that was one of my selling points: This troubled and dangerous aspect in her reputation actually helped the character.”</p>
<p id=”par-10_20″>Jolie also showed how far she was willing to go to show she was a good fit for the role.</p>
<p id=”par-11_55″>“She said: ‘Look, I want to do it, but I know what my reputation is, and I’ll do anything you want to prove that I’m worthy. I’ll be reliable, and I’ll turn up, and I’ll work hard,’ ” recalled West. “She said, ‘I don’t care if the studio wants to drug test me every day.’”</p>
<p id=”par-12_25″>Casting Jolie in the part did well for the film’s enduring legacy. Nowadays, it might be hard to think about <em>Tomb Raider</em> without picturing Jolie.</p>