The world’s most beautiful chameleon isn’t from some exotic country, although she frequents them for her humanitarian work. She isn’t odd or scary, although some of her earlier habits may have appeared that way to detractors. Many of us followers of pop culture remember when she started appearing in weekly magazines and on awards shows in the late 1990’s. The Billy Bob phase, the wild-child look; but that seems eons ago when compared to the life she leads now. Angelina Jolie is a a 32-year-old, seasoned actor, and long-time partner to actor Brad Pitt. She thrives on their ever-growing brood, and their tireless work to improve the human condition. Like a chameleon, she does have magical eyes and thick skin. Angelina Jolie defines versatility, beauty, brains and guts. The actress has played everything from the wife of Alabama Governor George Wallace to drug- addled model Gia Carangi, and she has metal on the mantel for both performances. But, toward the end of the 1990’s, the fullness in her life left her feeling empty in some way – big on blessings and a little low on purpose. Moved by what she saw while filming in a foreign country, she started a second career of sorts as a humanitarian. By the age of 25, she was named a Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations High Commissioner on Refugees. She quietly goes about her work all over the world without asking for the media coverage that sometimes screams, “Look at me! I am doing good work for others!”

Oh yeah. Angie, as she warmly will introduce herself to a stranger, is perhaps the biggest female movie star in the world at this time. Fresh off the success of “Beowulf”, she has just completed a movie with Clint Eastwood called, “Changleing.” It’s a true story from 1928 in which a mother terrifyingly loses her son to a serial killer and eventually brings the entire city of Los Angeles to its knees. It’s a movie about loss, healing and justice, which could work as a parable for Ms. Jolie’s life. Angie lost her beloved mother to cancer just over a year ago. As a devoted daughter, she still speaks of her mom in present tense. Loss. Angie works on projects she hand-picks, has created a stable and loving home for her children, and is now the mother she dreamed of being. Recovery. And, if there is a spare moment on her calendar, she hits the road – or the skies – and works, lobbies and demands a better way of life for the millions of refugees in this world. Justice.

DINA EASTWOOD: This is a bit of an impossible question, but let’s try to narrow it down: Do you feel there is a “scale” of need on world humanitarian issues? You do so much, but how do you choose?

ANGELINA JOLIE: I find it complicated personally, but I think that is why I focused on refugees. I feel like I was worried most about children, and they are the most vulnerable when they become refugees. Same for women, and then they become most vulnerable as refugees, and the same for all people who live through conflict. When you are displaced, or a refugee, you are going to face violence, conflict, female issues, hunger, psychological damage, medical problems. Recently, in Iraq, I saw a lot of refugees with cancer. Think about it – it’s the same cancer rates as here in the U.S., but they live in refugee camps. There’s not even food, no pain relief. They don’t even have a bed to lie on. When it comes to a cause where people are dealing with all these issues, but, without a home, a country and basic rights. They are uprooted and thrown into the wilderness – plus having all the other things that we worry about - helping refugees is the most important to me. I cannot imagine my focus NOT being on refugees. The majority of children in conflict will be refugees. Then, you end up with landmines in refugee areas. The problems just stack up when people are pushed across borders. It ends up affecting so many civilians.

DE: After the exhiliration of helping these people, does reality ever set in that you may be putting a “band aid” on a situation?

AJ: One thing that has changed for me in the last seven years has been JUSTICE. When I started, I came from an emotional place, and a sense of wanting to help; to get people basic needs, to get them human aid. Now it is clear. Unless we focus on justice, it’s futile. These people are returned to areas where the bad elements still exist in high numbers, and no one is held responsible for the serious crimes. Without justice, it won’t be fixed. I just can’t stand the thought of putting people on a bus and returning them home anymore without other changes being put in place. I studied international law for awhile, and I am learning about local tribunals that have happened, as well as the International Criminal Court. I am curious. I was happy when they issued arrest warrants in Darfur. Many people feel that it is good that they are focusing on getting relief there. And, of course it is. But, I don’t know how it can truly be changed without some people being held responsible.

DE: You’ve just come back from Iraq. Lord, we were out to dinner with you the night before you went, and you just kind of casually mentioned something about leaving for the “Middle East” that week. Did you take that trip in your official capacity with the UN?

AJ: I went because I felt I needed to see for myself what was going on. I think the morale with our troops is higher than the press has us seeing. It felt to me that a lot of good is finally beginning to happen there that maybe we aren’t being exposed to. I got to meet with General Petraeus, who was a wonderful man.

DE: Besides the UNHCR, you work with Clinton economist Gene Sperling on a foundation you call EPCC (Education Partnership for Children in Conflict). What is its intent?

AJ: Raising awareness for children who have lived through conflict. We launched it to address the problems of people in conflict.

We vow to educate more than a million refugee children around the world. That includes more than 200,000 in Iraq alone. Gene is amazing. We started it about two years ago. Then about six months ago, we gathered information to start our own website that lets people know which humanitarian groups are “working” and which maybe aren’t getting the money where it should be going. It’s growing. It should be that there is a center where it’s not that hard connecting people. In Iraq, UNICEF handles some areas, the Red Cross is in charge of others, working along as well with a few other groups. We want to tie those resources together somehow. We want to put people together and to support existing programs. We realized there are SO many different people, from the Red Cross, to individuals – all these different people. Gene has been amazing to see who is doing great work out there. We evaluate to see who is doing the best. Even if it’s a tiny group, they may be doing the most or the best, and we see how we can get them working in a more united way.

DE: Does art have any influence in these countries and camps where you work with refugees?

AJ: We have clinics in different areas of the world. For instance, we have a clinic named after (6-year-old son) Maddox in Cambodia (his native country.) It is a center for people who are affected by tuberculosis or AIDS. Art has been a big focus for healing at the clinic, and that is true across the board. We have art in the classrooms, and art teachers in the village. Art is definitely used in refugee camps. The only thing you can start with, when the person is traumatized, is to get them to express with crayons, markers, paints, and eventually, they find a way together to express what they are feeling. I saw this especially in Darfur. The international community was asking whether the government was involved in the attacks over there. Then we have the kids there drawing pictures of government planes doing the bombing on their villages. This process taught me how they see parents, how they see themselves. How do the kids draw themselves – tiny? Bigger than their parents? Maybe this fascinates me because I am an artist, but it’s the key to get to those feelings. Especially in the aid communities, a lot of doctors just know that this is the thing you have to start with.

DE: How do you limit feelings that your amazing work could turn out to be a futile attempt at change?

AJ: It always changes, always evolves, and justice has evolved. The United Nations is young. The United States is young. We will figure it out. We will do things in better ways.

DE: What did you find out when you studied international law?

AJ: I am questioning whether international law is a reality; meaning, is it a concept or a reality? It is as strong as we are willing to make it, and as weak as we allow it to be. I do know that it will have to be addressed in our lifetime.

DE: Let’s talk about your lifetime. When you were growing up, was there art in your home, and in your life?

AJ: Yes, my mother loved the masters. We had books everywhere: Andre Gide, Tennessee Williams. When I was 12 years old, she got me Anais Nin, who wrote such great books for women. She had every different book on art and on religions. She took me to the theater to expose me to the arts. In summers, we went to the theater in New York. My mother studied with (legendary acting teacher) Lee Strasberg. She was such a lover of artists, and she just collected so much information. She learned how to encourage my father, how to encourage me. I consider her a facilitator to artists!

DE: A comment you made sticks with me: You talked about how when you would get a role in a movie, your mother would write a letter to your character?

AJ: No matter how tiny the role. Even if it was a tiny indy movie. She bought me a lipstick or perfume that the character would wear, or she would give me a book appropriate for the person I was playing. And yes, she would write letters to my character and we’d read them out loud. She did it for Lara Croft, Gia, and for Lisa, from “Girl Interrupted.” Lisa is in a mental institution in that movie. So, my mom bought me a cat puppet, because she felt that the character could relate to that. I ended up using it in the movie. It was such a subtle suggestion to have the character have a puppet, and she was right on.

DE: She sounds like an amazing parent. Unconventional.

AJ: She and I never really fought. She was such a friend. She wasn’t so much of a friend that she wasn’t a mother, but she was my friend, too. When I did something wrong, she wasn’t mad at me, she was disappointed. If I stayed out all night and didn’t call, when I came home, she would explain that she loved me, and that she had been very worried about me. So, I ended up WANTING to be good, wanting to be fair, out of that courtesy you feel when you don’t want to hurt your friend. We were just so close. She is absolutely my best friend in life.

DE: Had it always been like that?

AJ: We so rarely get that chance (to be best friends with our mother.) In my teenage years, I was more distant, sure. And I didn’t see her or talk to her as much in different chunks in my life. She had cancer for eight years, and in the beginning, we weren’t as close. Fortunately, we had those eight years to get very close. She got a chance to see me become a mother. She met three of my children, and saw me through my pregnancy.

DE: With a house full of children, do you find yourself repeating what she did?

AJ: Oh, yeah. Especially at holidays. She LOVED holidays. After she passed away, I was going through her apartment. You know, you open up a drawer, and you expect to find clothes. But, I would open a drawer and see everything having to do with holidays. She had tons of Hallmark cards in a baggie, party favors in baggies, maybe, like, 20 little holiday bunnies that she had found somewhere. She put so much thought into everything she did. She would write letters to people, and do six drafts until she got it just right, even if it was to a 6-year-old. I think she is right about that, at the end of the day. Sure, I want to accomplish global things, and artist things, but at the end of the day, I am thinking about Easter, and about making sure we have every birthday just great for the kids. Those are the fun things in life that make you happy. Well, I don’t think Mad (her 6-year-old son) got an Easter basket the first few years (laughs). But now I get the importance of all the holidays and all the moments.

DE: I am sure you are starting to focus on the serious stuff, too, like education. When you select a school for your children, is a strong art program part of the decision?

AJ: Not so much. I focus on culture, language and discipline. Brad and I are the “fun artists” at home, and we give them a lot of that. At home it’s such a creative place. So, in school, we like to focus on the other departments. Only the oldest one is actually in school. Mad is very academic; he is doing well.

DE: You just did a movie with your family in mind.

AJ: Yes, “Kung-Fu Panda” I did that for the kids. The story takes place in China, and I am a kung-fu tiger. They are excited about that one. “Wanted” comes out next, but I haven’t seen that one yet.

DE: Did you enjoy working with Clint as much as he enjoyed working with you?

AJ: Oh, yeah.

DE: What did you expect when you worked with him, and what did you actually get?

AJ: Well, I expected him to be a man of very few words, to be very decisive. I had heard this about him. When I met them, I got that he is a man of few words and very decisive. But he is very fair. I think he is very fair. Not just kind to the crew, FAIR. He treats every person and every level of the crew with respect, and that makes a great leader. In the end, it is what makes a great director. It was the happiest set I have ever worked on. Yet, in his very quiet way, he demands hard work and perfection from everybody. Somehow, everybody wants to do well, and wants to do their best. There was really something to that.

DE: You have four children with four different ethnic backgrounds. How have you prepared yourself for having a multi-racial household?

AJ: We are making sure each of their cultures is present. A lady who works with us at the house speaks Vietnamese, and we have a Cambodian friend who comes around. One of our nannies is French, but of Congolese descent. Of course, she speaks French. For Z (2-year-old daughter Zahara), it’s great to have somebody who looks like her. We think it’s important to see people who are like you. We make sure there is a balance. The nice thing we are finding is that our kids discuss race. Something happened the other day when we went to ride horses. Z wanted the dark one because she said it looked like her skin, and she wanted (Angelina’s one-year-old daughter) Shiloh to ride the lighter colored pony to match her skin! She wanted the dark one with the pretty dark skin and the light one with the pretty lighter skin for her sister. Everybody knows they are different and everybody knows they are beautiful! We feel like we are preparing them well for the world, which tends to have a smaller mind for those things. Right now, they are very into the “Brandy Cinderella.” It’s nice because it’s got a big mix of people. The prince has Whoopi Goldberg as the mom and (pop singer) Brandy is Cinderella. Now all four see it and they are so excited. What an exciting world!

Angelina Jolie’s exciting world continues on the big screen, as well. She has two movies being released: The animated “Kung Fu Panda,” by Dreamworks, will be in theaters in the beginning of June, followed by “Wanted” at the end of June. “Changeling” is scheduled to be released in November. And, check out her website for the Education Partnership for Children of Conflict (EPCC) soon to see if you can help a child abroad from here at home.