Angelina Jolie (𝐛𝐨𝐫𝐧 June 4, 1975) is an American actress, filmmaker, and humanitarian. The recipient of numerous accolades, including two Academy Awards, a Tony Award and three Golden Globe Awards, she has been named Hollywood’s highest-paid actress multiple times.

Jolie committed to acting professionally at the age of 16, but initially found it difficult to pass auditions, often being told that her demeanor was “too dark.” She appeared in five of her brother’s student films, made while he attended the USC School of Cinema-Television, as well as in several music videos.

Jolie started her professional film career in 1993, when she played her first leading role in the direct-to-video science-fiction sequel Cyborg 2. She was so disappointed with the film that she did not audition again for a year. Following a supporting role in the independent film Without Evidence (1995), she starred in her first major studio film, Hackers (1995). The film failed to make a profit at the box office, but developed a cult following after its video release. The role in Hackers is considered Jolie’s breakthrough.

Jolie’s career prospects improved after she won a Golden Globe Award for her performance in TNT’s George Wallace (1997). The film was well received by critics, and Jolie received a nomination for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie for her performance.

Jolie portrayed supermodel Gia Carangi in HBO’s Gia (1998). The television film chronicles the destruction of Carangi’s life and career as a result of her addiction to heroin, and her decline and death from AIDS in the mid-1980s. For the second consecutive year, Jolie won a Golden Globe Award and received an Emmy Award nomination. She also won her first Screen Actors Guild Award.

Following the previously filmed gangster film Hell’s Kitchen (1998), Jolie returned to the screen in Playing by Heart (1998), part of an ensemble cast that included Sean Connery, Gillian Anderson, and Ryan Phillippe. The film received predominantly positive reviews, and Jolie was praised in particular. She won the Breakthrough Performance Award from the National Board of Review.

Jolie next took the supporting role of Lisa, a sociopathic patient in a psychiatric hospital, in Girl, Interrupted (1999), an adaptation of Susanna Kaysen’s 1993 memoir. She won the Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress – Motion Picture, the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role and the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in the film.

In 2000, Jolie appeared in her first summer blockbuster, Gone in 60 Seconds, which became her highest-grossing film to that point, earning $237.2 million internationally. She later explained that the film had been a welcome relief after her emotionally demanding role in Girl, Interrupted.