Angelina Jolie is set to star in new Marvel movie The Eternals and she’s hailed the film’s ‘strong’ female leading cast.
The actress, 46, is joined by her co-stars Salma Hayek, Gemma Chan and Lauren Ridloff, as well as fellow movie stars Jodie Comer, Halle Berry, Gal Gadot, Jennifer Hudson and Rita Moreno in ELLE’s 2021 Women in Hollywood issue to celebrate ‘resilient’ women.
The nine women are being honoured for their creative and cultural contributions, with each star gracing the cover for a series of stunning shots for the publication’s November issue.
Jolie heads up the leading females and looks sensational on the cover as she poses in a hammock. Clutching on to an Eternals comic in one hand, the mum-of-six radiates beauty in a flowing metallic dress.
Another shot sees her sporting a tailored suit and sipping on a cup of tea while held up in the air by ropes at the edge of a pool.
In the issue, Jolie – who is an advocate for refugees – discusses her upcoming movie and praises The Eternal’s director, Oscar-winner Chloé Zao for her choice of casting.
‘A lot of times as an actress, you’re that individual strong woman, or you have one sister; you don’t often have this family where you really get to know women and see all the different strengths,’ Jolie explained.
Praising her co-stars, Jolie continued: ‘Gemma’s grace and elegance and the way she walks through the world. Salma’s motherhood and power, and Lauren’s connection and intelligence. Everybody came as themselves.
‘Maybe there’s something to that, that the characters weren’t as far off [from ourselves]. I think there’s a secret that we don’t know that our director knows, because if you look at her films, she casts a lot of real people as their roles and it shapes her films.’
The Eternals, set for release in cinemas in November, follows a race of immortal beings with superhuman powers who are secretly living on Earth.
As well as starring Richard Madden, Kit Harington and Don Lee, the movie will see Jolie, Hayek, Chan and Ridloff appear as superheroes too, with Grown Ups star Hayek praising director Zao for breaking mainstream stereotypes on the big screen.
She reveals in the issue that when she was first contacted about the movie, she thought it was going to play a ‘grandmother’ type role.
‘I never thought I was going to be one of the Eternals. It doesn’t happen. It’s never happened to me like that before without a fight and like, ‘I can do this, please hire me!’ When she told me I was one of them, I was like, ‘Me, Mexican, Middle Eastern? Me, in my fifties? I’m going to be a superhero in a Marvel movie?’ Sometimes as a woman, as a woman of color and with the age, you feel so overlooked,’ she said.
Commending Zao for ‘having balls’, she championed the director for ‘acknowledging’ her within the industry.
Ridloff, whose character Makkari is deaf like her and the first deaf superhero within the Marvel universe, reveals she jumped at the chance to ‘show representation’ on screen in a ‘refreshing’ way, while Chan praises Marvel for showing diversity on a global scale with its movies.
As well as The Eternals cast, the Women in Hollywood issue also features Killing Eve star Jodie Comer, who gets a stellar review from her co-stars Ben Affleck and Matt Damon in the accompanying interview for her portrayal of Marguerite in The Last Duel – a woman who accuses her husband’s best friend of rape.
Damon describes Comer as ‘truly incredible’, while noting her ability to better a filmmaker’s writing with her take on a character, while Affleck gushes: ‘I’m just proud to be a footnote in the Wikipedia page of her career.’
She touches on how her ‘confidence’ has grown over the years within the film industry and the lessons she’s learned as she poses for a series of playful snaps that see her kicking back in a bathtub in one shot and stepping out in front of a wind machine in a grand bedroom.
also included in the issue is Justice League star Gadot who reflects on the mistreatment she endured on set of the 2017 release and her decision to speak out against it.
Gadot accused director Joss Whedon, who has refused to comment on any allegations of mistreatment and abuse, of verbally abusing her on set and threatening her career.
She questions whether she would have received the same treatment ‘if I had been a man’ and how she felt inclined to publicly address how she was treated in order to show people ‘that it’s not okay’.
Berry, meanwhile, reflects on starting out her film career ‘when Black women didn’t really have a prominent place in the industry’ and how her fight for her career has inspired the stories she wants to tell on the big screen. She is the only Black woman to have won the Academy Award for Best Actress to date.
Hudson, who turns heads with her cover shot in a revealing leopard print swimsuit and colour block blazer, shares what it was like to land the iconic role of playing Aretha Franklin in the legendary singer’s biopic and how Aretha had handpicked her to appear as her in the movie.
While Moreno – the first Latina to win an Oscar (for Best Supporting Actress) – recalls her experience of being an activist throughout her movie career, as she calls out Hollywood for showing ageism towards older actors and actresses with typecasting.
All nine women included in the stunning issue are praised for ‘breaking barriers’ and using their fame to actively campaign against important global issues and injustices.
Jolie, who was appointed a ‘Special Envoy’ in 2012, works closely with the UN to support and campaign for the rights and protection of refugees, while her co-star Hayek is a prominent voice in the fight against domestic violence.
Chan, meanwhile, launched the #StopESEAHate campaign here in the UK, earlier this year, following a rise in hate crimes against Asian communities.
In May, she shared her concerns as she revealed on social media: ‘Like many others, I worry for family members every time they leave the house or use public transport. My mum has worked for the NHS for most of her life – she and my dad have been followed and subjected to a number of verbal assaults since the beginning of the pandemic.
‘Whilst I’m relieved that these attacks didn’t become physical, unfortunately that is often not the case, such as the unprovoked attack on a 26 year old woman in Edinburgh last week which ended in her hospitalisation, the vicious beating of a university lecturer who was out jogging in Southampton and the physical assault of Singaporean student Jonathan Mok on Oxford Street, amongst many others.
‘What’s even more concerning is that the recorded figures are likely an underestimation because many incidents go unreported, both to the police and in the media. There is an urgent need for increased awareness and support so I am proud to help launch this fund, which will provide grants to grassroots organisations supporting ESEA and broader communities.’
