Before she was a humanitarian superstar, Oscar winner, mother to six and one half of arguably one of the biggest celebrity couples of all time, Angelina Jolie was a young actress trying to carve out her mark in the long shadow of her actor father, Jon Voight. Jolie had acted from a young age, but her breakout role was in (the brilliant) HBO film Gia. However, she didn’t launch to true fame until she showed her chops as a bona-fide action star playing Lara Croft in the wildly successful Tomb Raider franchise. Tomb Raider was based upon a popular video game, one we had all spent a lot of time playing.

Jolie followed up her turn on Tomb Raider with one strong appearance after another including Gone in 60 Seconds, more Tomb Raider sequels, and Salt. She also clinched the Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her outstanding work in the 1999 adaptation of the YA classic Girl, Interrupted. She’s also done some voice work that we’ve loved. She’s staging a bit of a return to form and paying great homage to the family she’s built by taking on Maleficent, which may be her greatest YA performance yet.

Jolie is more than a mere actress, she is a legendary cultural icon. She has stood for reinvention for so many, namely through taming her wild ways and growing into an all around humanitarian and homebody…albeit the most glamorous homebody ever. Even Glee commented on her transformation with Santana citing Jolie as life-inspo when talking to Rachel.

“Look at Angelina Jolie. She used to be that girl with a vial of blood around her neck who liked kissing her brother. Now she’s Mother Earth.” – Santana to Rachel on Glee.

YA or not, either way we’re eagerly awaiting to see what Jolie does next!