Mr. and Mrs. Smith was a smash hit at the box office in 2005 thanks to the chemistry between Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt, but their real-life romance and subsequent divorce made headlines for all the wrong reasons.
Actress Angelina Jolie has said that she drew on her own life, including her marriages to Billy Bob Thornton and Jonny Lee Miller, for the scenes in which her character tries to kill Pitt. Jolie also discussed the difficulties of balancing the film’s comedy and drama and why she ultimately decided against making a sequel.
Angelina Jolie Taking It Too Seriously
Angelina Jolie was already a well-known action star before she starred in Mr. and Mrs. Smith; she had previously played Lara Croft in the Tomb Raider films. However, she hesitated to try comedy because it wasn’t a familiar genre.
In an interview with NBC News, she overcame her tendency to be too serious by taking on darker roles. Jolie said that Pitt, who has a natural comedic flair, was instrumental in getting her to relax and find her own sense of humor.
“I mean, I guess we’re just — for a long time, I was always much more comfortable in darker roles, in pain or quieter person and it takes a lot for me to feel that I have something to contribute in a light way, but I wouldn’t assume, yeah, I’m that fun friend that everybody feels at ease with. He is very funny which helped me be funny. He got me from being too serious and he would just make me laugh so he helped a lot.”
Jolie also praised Pitt’s professionalism and generosity as a co-star, saying he made her feel safe and supported on set. Mr. and Mrs. Smith is a beloved action-comedy that defines the early 2000s despite the controversy surrounding the relationship between Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt.
At the same time, Jolie’s life experiences explain the film’s central themes, which center on the difficulties of marriage and the importance of having a common goal. Jolie’s commentary on the film echoes her feelings about the lack of fulfillment in her marriages to Billy Bob Thornton and Jonny Lee Miller.
“And what that something is that we didn’t have the same value for how we wanted to live our lives, what we wanted to do with our lives. If we wanted to be of use to others, in what ways? And that at the end of the day, as much as you can have fun with them, you can have great sex with somebody, you can have all that stuff, if you don’t wake up with a common purpose, then it’s not going to work.”
The real-life drama behind the scenes added to the film’s allure, in addition to the film’s high-octane action sequences and witty banter between the two lead actors. Jolie and Pitt’s off-screen romance, which began on the set of Mr. and Mrs. Smith, fueled their on-screen chemistry.
A Mr. and Mrs. Smith Sequel?
Ever since Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt became a real-life couple, speculation has swirled about the possibility of a Mr. and Mrs. Smith sequel. Jolie denied the 2017 rumors of a sequel in an interview with Vanity Fair. She didn’t want to bring their personal lives into the workplace because she and Pitt had started a family since filming the first movie.
Jolie also claimed that the proposed sequel was unoriginal because it relied too heavily on cliches about marriage and family life, such as having children or a divorce. Jolie ultimately decided that Mr. and Mrs. Smith was complete and didn’t warrant a sequel.
Source: NBC News
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