The Guardian: Angelina Jolie: Hollywood won't be the same without her
The Maleficent star is dropping hints that she will retire from acting after her next big project, a biopic of Cleopatra. Departing the screen to concentrate on directing is a big shame for cinema lovers
She is the Sophia Loren of our age, a Hollywood star of hyperreal beauty, statuesque presence and queenly hauteur. She had been away from the screen for a few years, facing down a bit of snarkery for her UN ambassador work and the alleged trouser-wearing prerogative in her relationship with Brad Pitt. But she stunned everyone with her courage and candour in announcing pre-emptive surgery to combat a genetic predisposition to breast cancer.
Then this month Angelina Jolie made that sensational return with the new Disney fantasy Maleficent – smacking those uppity X-Men down to second place at the US box office, and showing beguiling new touches of humour and self-awareness that made her more of an icon than ever. Yet now, at very the moment of her comeback triumph, she hints that after one more film, a Cleopatra biopic, her acting career might be all over, and she's concentrating on being a director and UN ambassador. It's the Queen of the Nile – and then that's it. Oh Ange! Oh no! Say it ain't so!
