Angelina Jolie is one of the most high-profile actresses of her generation.
Watch film trailers now »Away from the paparazzi which inevitably follow her growing brood, the 33-year-old is emerging as a force to be reckoned with on the big screen.
Already tipped for an Oscar nomination for her latest role in Changeling, Jolie had initially turned down the role fearing she would become too emotionally involved.
"When I read the script, I could not put it down and then I said 'no'. Immediately. I did not want to go near this project because it was too upsetting. But I couldn't stop talking about her," she says.
"I found myself sitting with people and wanting them
to know about this extraordinary woman, what these people did to her."
Changeling, the latest work from legendary actor-turned-director Clint Eastwood, tells the true story of Christine, whose son Walter disappears without a trace in 1928 Los Angeles. Five months later, a child who claims to be her son is returned by police, who are keen to win credit for a job well done.
Dazzled by flashbulbs and overwhelmed by reporters, Christine agrees to take the boy home, even though she knows it is not her son.
Her campaign to find the real Walter continues, but in Prohibition-era LA, women don't stand up to the system and she is sent to a mental institution. Christine's long battle against the corrupt system eventually changed the course of the city's history.
"I found it very inspiring in the end," adds Jolie. "It became a story about democracy in action, a story about justice, about suffering a great loss and fighting through it and making a change for the future and questioning government and the police.
"Christine had to walk a very fine line and then when she did speak out, they locked her in an institution, so she had this real struggle to try to behave with these very, very corrupt people."
Jolie gave birth to twins in July this year. They are apparently asleep in her room at London's Claridges when we meet.
Knox and Vivienne were still just a glint in their mother's eye while she was filming, but the actress says her other children – Maddox, seven, Pax, four, Zahara, two, who were all adopted, and two-year-old Shiloh, her first child with Brad Pitt, were a comfort to her during the harrowing shoot.
"I had my kids with me as much as possible at lunch and after doing a day at work I would run home," she reveals.
"I just wanted to be silly, it was so emotional that I found myself being really goofy. I was so happy that I knew where my kids were and they were okay."
Christine's story also made Jolie feel closer to her mother Marcheline Bertrand, who died last year from cancer.
"Her name was Marcheline, but everybody called her marshmallow, because she was just the softest most gentle woman in the world," says Jolie, suddenly tearful.
"She was really sweet and she would never get angry. But when it came
to her kids, she was just really fierce."
Jolie admits she has struggled to cope with her mother's loss, but is thankful for what she has.
"My mum was far too young, she was 58. But she lived long enough to meet my children, most of my children. So you can only focus on how grateful you are.
"And when you love somebody that much, you are happy that they are out of pain. Period. As much as you miss them, the important thing is they don't suffer."
One of Changeling's biggest pull factors for the Oscar-winning actress was the opportunity to work with Clint Eastwood.
"In person, he's a really good man, he's very solid, very strong and great with his crew. He's one of those very fair leaders," she says.
"He's very decisive and he's famous for shooting one or two takes which does sound terrifying for an actor. But because of that you
know he's not going to drain you emotionally. He will be prepared.
"It does allow for you to push yourself. And also because he does do just one take, everything is very fresh. As actors we tend to overthink things and analyse ourselves and because you don't have time for that, it keeps it very in the moment and very real."
Jolie was born in Los Angeles to actress mum Marcheline and actor father Jon Voight. Her parents split up not long after she was born and she was brought up by her mother in New York.
The family moved back to LA when she was 11 where Jolie attended acting classes and went through a teen rebellion phase. She started modelling and appearing in music videos and low budget films and in 1999 she won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for her role as a sociopath alongside Winona Ryder in Girl, Interrupted.
But it was as feisty archaeologist Lara Croft in the 2001 film version of the bestselling video game Tomb Raider that Jolie came to international attention.
Last year, she won critical acclaim for her portrayal in A Mighty Heart of Mariane Pearl, whose reporter husband Daniel was killed in the Middle East, but for an actress at the top of her game she recently announced she was going to take her foot off the pedal.
"I'm not making some big retirement announcement, but I have a big family and I have a lot of responsibility at home and I have the good fortune financially not to have to work all the time and I just feel privileged that I get to be at home a lot and I feel a responsibility to be there as much as I can.
"Maybe I'll make a film once a year and then maybe every two years and then maybe I'll stop," she adds.
As for Changeling, Jolie is widely tipped to win an Oscar for the role.
"Anything that acknowledges a film you are proud of and that you worked hard on means a great deal. But at the same time, if nothing is ever acknowledged you are just as proud and you know you worked just as hard," she says.
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