Hollywood Exec: I Drug-Tested Angelina!
Angelina Jolie’s heroin and cocaine use almost cost her a multi-million dollar job! The stunning actress had such a “dark reputation” that she was subjected to daily drug tests in order to win the role of Lara Croft: Tomb Raider, a shocking new tell-all claims.
The dirty details are exposed in a bombshell excerpt from the new Sherry Lansing biography titled Leading Lady: Sherry Lansing and the Making of a Hollywood Groundbreaker, obtained by the Hollywood Reporter.
"She definitely had some baggage and something of a dark reputation," director Simon West said about Jolie, who was trying to cast her in the film that was released in 2001.
Indeed, The National Enquirer uncovered exclusive footage of Jolie, shot in 1998 by her drug dealer, Franklin Meyer, which showed her pacing back and forth and talking on the phone to her dad, in her squalid apartment in New York City. She had just scored heroin and cocaine.
Her drug use, the vial of blood she carried around her neck and her unorthodox relationship with her brother actually helped her win the role, West explained. "Funnily enough, that was one of my selling points: This troubled and dangerous aspect in her reputation actually helped the character," she said.
Paramount boss Lansing was called by Jolie’s father, Jon Voight, and a family friend, Jane Fonda, both of whom said the actress was “extremely fragile." Concerned, Lansing sent West to meet Jolie in Mexico.
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West recalled their meeting on the set of Original Sin. “She said: 'Look, I want to do it, but I know what my reputation is, and I'll do anything you want to prove that I'm worthy. I'll be reliable, and I'll turn up, and I'll work hard. She said, 'I don't care if the studio wants to drug test me every day.' "
And so they did! The studio began daily drug tests for Jolie, and it wasn't just peeing in a cup.
Then-Paramount president John Goldwyn said, "We were sufficiently worried that we obliged her to undergo random drug tests — and not just urine tests but also blood tests."
Jolie passed the drug tests, but she was saddled with a team to keep in in line.
"We would put a team around her for two purposes," a production crew member admitted.
"One really was practical: to get her into great shape for the movie, not only in terms of appearance but to do what she had to do onscreen," the source said. "Then there was this notion that we had to give her spiritual and psychological support."
Despite the drama, Lansing was enamored with Jolie. "She was beyond beautiful," she said. "She was smart, she was strong."
And the studio’s daily drug tests paid off: Tomb Raider made $275 million in 2001.
Leading Lady: Sherry Lansing and the Making of a Hollywood Groundbreaker will be available on April 25, 2017.
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