How bad did Angelina Jolie want Lara Croft: Tomb Raider? Not casting couch bad, not that we know.
Bad enough, though, that she agreed to getting randomly drug tested. What is this, the NBA? Also, what drugs were they testing for?
The film came out in 2001. At the time, Jolie was a wild one. Most notably, she carried a vial of Billy Bob Thornton’s blood around her neck. That’s a biohazard right there.
A new biography of former Paramount Pictures CEO Sherry Lansing describes how leery the studio was at casting Jolie. Not only was she carrying someone’s blood around her neck, no one knew who she was. She wasn’t six kids deep yet.
“She definitely had some baggage and something of a dark reputation,” director Simon West said in the book. “Funnily enough, that was one of my selling points: This trouble and dangerous aspect in her reputation actually helped the character.”
Jolie put the hard sell on West. When he flew down to Mexico to meet her, 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.” Then, she also offered to get drug tested.
The studio actually agreed and did urine and blood tests on her. She passed and the rest is history.
What’s wild is that most of Hollywood does drugs, don’t they? Johnny Depp looks like he’s perpetually drunk in Pirates of the Caribbean. Ben Affleck has an alcohol addiction and he’s still a superhero. None of these guys get tested. What’s up with putting the screws on Jolie?
Now, we’ve got Alicia Vikander rebooting Tomb Raider. While she’s not hoarding some lover’s blood around her neck, she’s got her own rumors circulating. Can’t wait to hear the stories fifteen years from now about what went on THIS set.