'Salt' premiere: Angelina Jolie talks about playing the action hero

Angelina Jolie was her usual stunning self Monday night at the Los Angeles premiere of Salt. She spent a few minutes with EW reporter Carrie Bell chatting about action roles, the possibility of playing Cleopatra, and bringing the kids to the set. Excerpts are below.

ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: You play badass so well.
ANGELINA JOLIE: Oh thanks. I’m glad because I love it. I love to jump around and break things. If the actor’s having a good time, the audience feels it and you have a good time together. I love the pace. I’m very impatient so I just kept going. I never stop moving so this was perfect for me. We were never in the same place for very long.

Do you expect to slow down anytime soon?
Not as long as I can still do it and people want to see it.

People are comparing Evelyn Salt more to Jason Bourne than to Lara Croft. What do you think?
I would say that’s accurate, because Lara Croft is based in fantasy and Jason Bourne and Evelyn Salt are based in reality. But I think she is her own. She is not just a female Jason Bourne. We worked very, very hard to make sure we weren’t copying anything that had been done before and not just doing the girl version of what the boys do. But actually finding our own language and our own new person.

I understand there was an ex-CIA agent hired as a consultant. What’d you learn from her about being a spy?
She actually talked a lot about how difficult it was on your personal life. And how hard it is, especially for a woman, to not be able to communicate with her family and keep secrets from her husband and family.

How does it differ from other action films you’ve done?
There’s real depth to it. There are real scenes with the other actors. There’s a good character study. There’s a good plot. It’s not as far-fetched as Wanted. We couldn’t bend a bullet and say it worked because it’s wild. It had to work because it could really happen in real life, and we adjusted the stunts accordingly. A spy would actually have to be able to do the things we do in the film.

What do you say about the rumors that you might be playing Cleopatra?
I would be honored. I’m fascinated by her. I love history, and I love that part of the world, but we haven’t gotten the script yet so we we’ll see if there is something that’s good enough, and then we’ll try to make it. I’m not sure I could top Elizabeth Taylor. I don’t know that anybody could be better [playing Cleopatra] than Elizabeth Taylor. I love her. She’s always been one of my favorites.

Did Brad visit the set?
Oh yeah, all the time. He brought the kids all the time.

What do the kids think?
They haven’t seen much because this is not a film for them, but they like the fun parts. They like coming to set and [seeing] the wigs. But in the clip, though, there’s someone tying my feet up and they did not like that at all. Brad wanted to see the film and it’s good to get out and be with adults. We are going to do a little bit of the after-party, but we have to get the kids out the door early tomorrow. They start camp tomorrow.

How does Brad like action Angie?
He likes it. He met me that way.

—Reporting by Carrie Bell