‘Not afraid of death’: Angelina Jolie wanted to be funeral director before turning to acting

WASHINGTON: Hollywood star Angelina Jolie, who is known as one of the finest actresses in the entertainment industry, didn’t consider acting as her first choice of career. The actress admitted that she wanted to become a funeral director before turning to acting.

Angelina revealed on ‘The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon’ that she was studying to become a funeral director, reported People. During her latest appearance on the talk show, host Jimmy Fallon sought a response from the actress to the rumours of her considering different careers before acting.

Angelina Jolie learned how to sing opera for six months leading up to her film Maria! #FallonTonight pic.twitter.com/rB0o9aB8vZ

— The Tonight Show (@FallonTonight) December 6, 2024

“You’re an incredible actor, but I saw some things online. I was wondering if I could ask you if these rumours are true of other careers that you might have had, I’d be interested to see if any of these are real”. Fallon continued, “First of all, is it true that prior to acting you were studying to become a funeral director?”

To everyone’s surprise, Jolie said ‘yes’. She joked with a laugh, “Doesn’t it make sense though?” Angelina Jolie explained, “My grandfather died, and I remember thinking this is not how they should be. This should be a celebration of life. And since I’m not afraid of death and I was comfortable with it, I thought, ‘This would be a great career path for me. … I could, like, make this better. I could do a thing here”.

The ‘Lard Croft’ actress humorously calls it her ‘fallback career’ now. Meanwhile, Jolie’s most recent project, “Maria,” has earned an Oscar winner awards buzz for her portrayal of the late opera great Maria Callas. The Pablo Larrain-directed drama, about the last days of the opera singer’s life before she died of a heart attack at age 53 in 1977, premiered at the Venice Film Festival.

At the Los Angeles premiere of “Maria” in October, Jolie recalled her first day of singing lessons in preparation for the film. “I walked into room with the piano, and somebody said, ‘Ok, let’s see where you’re at.’ And I got really emotional. I took a big deep breath, and I let out a sound, and I started crying”, she said.

Angelina continued, “I think we all don’t realize how much we hold inside our bodies, and how much we carry and how much that affects our sound and our voice and our ability to make sound.”

The actress will be next seen sharing screen space with actors Ella Rumpf and Louis Garrel for the film ‘Stitches’. (ANI)