Angelina Jolie reveals how ‘Tomb Raider’ helped her kick her 2-pack-a-day smoking habit

Back in the roaring ’20s and throughout the Jazz Age, smoking was seen as the epitome of glamour and sophistication. It became inextricably associated with Hollywood and omnipresent in popular culture. The big stars of the silver screen appeared with smoldering cigarettes in some of cinema’s most iconic scenes, as well as in ads as part of the tobacco industry’s push on product placement.

Even the sirens of the day, Lauren Bacall, Joan Crawford and Bette Davis were paid to promote cigarettes while smoking was viewed as a rite of passage for men.

Today, we know a lot more about the health issues that are caused by tobacco and smoking and while it’s a habit that has lost a lot of its appeal and become much less fashionable, many modern day actors and actresses still smoke.

Angelina Jolie beats cigarette addiction

Among them were Hollywood’s golden couple Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie - whose 12-year relationship ended acrimoniously in divorce. Both have since quit - Pitt packed in smoking for good during the pandemic while Angelina revealed how she was a heavy smoker who could easily puff her way through a couple of packets a day.

At this month’s Santa Barbara International Film Festival in Santa Barbara, Jolie chatted to critic Leonard Maltin about how she prepared for her role as Lara Croft in 2001’s Tomb Raider.

“I admittedly came smoking two packs a day and completely had to change my health and my life and discover that I could do things I didn’t know I could do,” she explained.

The role was physically demanding and forced Jolie to make a number of lifestyle changes and look after her health.

“For Tomb Raider, there were a few months of just nothing but multiple training sessions a day - morning, noon and night,” she continued. “And I didn’t want anything but good food, water, and sleep at a certain point. I was in training and that’s what your body wants… You change.”

After cutting back on smoking, Jolie gave up cigarettes for good shortly after the film’s release and hasn’t gone back. “I never did it again…Well, I think I did once or twice...”

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