The actress opens up about brad, shiloh’s penchant for dressing like a boy and her new movie

Angelina could never be accused of leading a boring life. From flying her own plane to becoming a UN Goodwill Ambassador and getting caught in the middle of one of the biggest divorces in Hollywood history, the actress, 35, has always kept us guessing.

Today she’s happily settled with long-term partner Brad Pitt, 46, and their six children, while spearheading ongoing humanitarian projects and enjoying a thriving acting career. Currently she’s starring in the spy action-thriller Salt as CIA officer Evelyn Salt, a role that was rumoured to have been written for a male action star. But give it to Angelina to do the unexpected, completing physically gruelling stunts on set and coming home to play dress-up with her children. Here, the actress talks to OK! About balancing motherhood with work, why Brad is such a great partner and the one thing she thinks we’d be shocked to learn about her…

OK: Do your kids understand what you do for a living? Angelina Jolie (AJ): The oldest ones do, and the girls are starting to realise now, but they haven’t really watched my films. I think Mr. and Mrs. Smith might be a little hard for them to take, especially when they discover that it’s their mum and dad! Both Brad and I have done animated films that are coming out this year, so I think they will start there and see where it leads. We’ll let them think we just do cartoons for a little while [laughs].

OK: Is it true that Shiloh wants to be a boy? Angelina Jolie (AJ): Yeah, but it’s a four-year-old’s feelings, it’s not for the world to interpret as anything more. Shiloh has always wanted to dress like a boy. She wants her hair cut like a boy. She wanted to go by the name John for awhile [laughs]. Some kids wear capes and want to be Superman, and she wants to be like her brothers. It’s just who she is, and it’s been a surprise to us, but she’s so much more than that. She’s so funny, sweet and pretty. But she does love wearing ties, that’s her thing!

OK: You’re very fearless when it comes to stunts. Does Brad worry about your safety? Angelina Jolie (AJ): We met doing stunts together [on Mr. and Mrs. Smith] and so we both consider each other quite capable. I think he knows I could pretty much do anything I decide to do. He’ll sometimes ask me to double-check my harness but we are both very responsible because we have kids. At the same time, we both like adventure and if we’re going to do something, we study it and then we do it properly.

OK: What’s it like to do a tough action role and come home and be a mother? Angelina Jolie (AJ): My family is used to all sides of me on any given day. There are days when I feel aggressive and then others when I can’t wait for my kids to see me for lunch so we can play dress-up. You’ve got to see my kids when they go in the make-up trailer. They’ll try on all my wigs. It’s not what you would think. I don’t have two different worlds.

OK: We heard that you might be giving up acting… Angelina Jolie (AJ): I would never would say that. Nobody should ever announce something like that because you just never know. In the next few years I’ll probably be at a point where I want to do a lot less just because there are other things I’d like to do in my life.

OK: Such as? Angelina Jolie (AJ): I want to raise my kids! I think that as they get older they need more focused attention. We give them a lot now but I just want to be there for everything. Right now, we’ve got a lot of different things we’re involved in and we’re just bringing them with us, but as they get older they are going to want to be with their friends and so we’re going to have to move our lives around them a little more.

OK: Have you turned down lots of projects because you want to focus on your family? Angelina Jolie (AJ): Brad and I take turns. He’s working now, so I’m home and the kids are with me, and then in four months I’ll probably be itching to do a little something. I can do my humanitarian work during the times he’s working and I bring the kids with me when I go off to for a few days. So it does balance out, mainly because I have an extraordinary partner who really makes it work with me and gives me time to do things.

OK: Does that mean travelling less as the kids get older? Angelina Jolie (AJ): I hope I’ve got them healthily addicted to travel, but I think probably yes. They also have their own projects in different countries and they will be involved in those. We’ve got clinics being built in Ethiopia. Brad has got his up. We’ll have ours in Vietnam, and then they’ll hopefully want to go and take a year off and work in one of our clinics.

OK: What’s something that people would be surprised to learn about you? Angelina Jolie (AJ): I think I’m very goofy! I probably laugh and giggle more than most people would imagine. Even when I was pregnant I would get the giggles for like 15 minutes – unstoppable giggles! I actually had laughing fits! But I don’t think I’d be very good in a comedy. I think there are other actresses that do it brilliantly, and I think it’s best that they do them.

OK: Do you like to watch your own movies? Angelina Jolie (AJ): No, I still haven’t even seen Wanted.

OK: Why’s that? Angelina Jolie (AJ): I think it’s because if you start watching your own movies then you start becoming self-conscious when you’re filming. But if you don’t care about what you look like or sound like it works better.

OK: How do you prepare for an emotional scene? Angelina Jolie (AJ): Well I never, ever in an acting scene imagine something bad happening to my family because I don’t even want to think about it. It makes it too close.

OK: What was it like talking to real female CIA agents while working on Salt? Angelina Jolie (AJ): Women like to communicate so much; we naturally chat to our partners, and the women I talked to said that it was so hard to go 15 years undercover, and not be able to tell their husbands where they were going. And when they came back they couldn’t tell them what happened. They said they felt so alone, and relieved when they finally left the CIA, and finally be able to have conversations over the dinner table about life with their families.

OK: Could you imagine yourself working as a spy? Angelina Jolie (AJ): I think if I had to, if it was to do some good. I mean, I can keep a secret [laughs]. But the lack of communication with my family would be very difficult for me.

OK: How do you relax when you have time to yourself? Angelina Jolie (AJ): Well, my home is such a full home. I wake up and I’ve got four kids in my bed, and Brad is on the phone and he’s with the twins. I just don’t really get time to myself. And most people with kids just don’t get it. Sometimes you have a bath or a shower, but usually somebody is trying to come in. It’s just the way it is with kids. You get used to it!