Angelina Jolie on film, family and life after Brad Pitt

Angelina Jolie during the 62nd Berlin International Film Festival. Photo / Getty Images

It seems there are two Angelina Jolies. There's the "wild" young ingenue of 20 years ago with a take-no-prisoners approach to life. During that time, in 1987, when I first met this unknown actress, she was promoting a relatively obscure movie, Playing by Heart. Her publicist introduced her as "Jon Voight's daughter", and she offered a firm handshake. At the time, the most striking thing about her, other than an unusual and undeniable beauty, was her general appearance. Unlike almost all burgeoning movie stars, Jolie was not in the least bit "camera ready". She wore jeans, a faded old T-shirt, and not a lick of makeup.

Now after two decades, the world's most photographed woman and tabloid fixture is equally known for her tireless work as a UN Ambassador as she is for her romantic life. Today she stands poised, decked out in a Bottega Veneta ensemble, and instead of the rather defiant attitude, she exhibits a fragile demeanour, as any woman does when reeling from a marriage breakup. "I don't think there are two of me, I think there's more like 12," she jokes.

The Oscar-winning movie star is in Los Angeles doing her first round of interviews to promote her third directorial effort, First They Killed My Father. She hasn't talked to the press since her split with Brad Pitt last year (she filed for divorce in September).

Now a single mum, Jolie, 42, says filming her latest project has given her a different perspective on her own challenges and experiences:

"I do feel that it's important to stand up and find your inner strength. I have often found it from people that have survived against immeasurable odds, like those in Cambodia, and they inspire me so much. I am always shocked by the resilience of people who have absolutely nothing, and I think it's a lesson to all of us, especially when we complain about the small things in life.

Angelina Jolie and Ricky Panh at a screening of First They Killed My Father. Photo / AP

Jolie has certainly endured a lot in the past few years. In 2013, she underwent a preventive double mastectomy after it was revealed she carried the BRCA1 gene, which gave her an estimated 87 per cent risk of breast cancer and 50 per cent of ovarian cancer. (Jolie lost her mother, grandmother and aunt to cancer). Two years later she went under the knife again, this time to remove her ovaries and fallopian tubes after a cancer scare. This caused her to begin menopause. When I asked her about the recent story in Vanity Fair, in which she described herself as feeling "even more of a woman" after menopause, she says, "I wanted other women to know that you can go through menopause and you can go through a mastectomy and still feel very much like a woman."

Through her United Nations work, she has witnessed the horrors of poverty and war and indescribable suffering.

"I spend so much of my life with people that suffer, like the victims around the world today, the terrible conflicts, but I know that my pain and my suffering is nothing in comparison really truly, because I have access to so much and I have opportunity for so much. So I just try never to forget that."

Jolie retains a positive outlook. "With so much in life, you have to focus on how much worse it could be. And I am so happy I don't have cancer, and I am so happy that I had the surgeries which will hopefully prevent me from getting cancer. If I get it, it will be delayed a few years and chemo will be delayed a few years, and the exchange for that peace of mind is quite good," she says.

"Just living every day and even if you're going through chemo, you have to find the ability to live and love and laugh. It may sound like a postcard, but it's true."

With her career and hectic life as a single parent, how does she make time for herself?

"Well I think every mother knows that it's hard. I always ask myself that question and I am not very good at it. I am told often that I should try to find more time for myself, but I do love being a mom."

What's it like being boss of such a brood?

"Listen, when you have six kids, you realise you are the boss of nothing."

Sareum Srey Moch in a scene from First They Killed My Father: A Daughter of Cambodia Remembers. Photo / AP

Her film, First They Killed My Father, is based on the 2000 non-fiction book by Loung Ung, a Cambodian author and survivor of the genocide perpetrated by the Khmer Rouge during its barbaric reign. It is the country to which Jolie felt a strong connection when shooting Tomb Raider. It is also the birthplace of her eldest child, Maddox, 16, who serves as executive producer on the film.

Though it would be an understatement to describe the film as emotionally gruelling, Jolie hopes it will act as a cautionary tale for the residents of Cambodia.

"Seventy per cent of Cambodians are under 30, and so they will be the future of the country. And if they watch this film and they don't want that to be repeated, and if they want to learn from it and move forward, then they will be the ones to take the country forward."

Admirably, she has retained her adventurous spirit, notably her penchant for flying. She lightens up. "I still fly. Actually my boys are all flying. They are all taking lessons, even Knox [aged 9]. He likes it, but you have to help him with the pedals," she laughs. "Actually, they are flying this weekend. They are flying so much that there is no space for mum!"

Jolie recently shelled out US$24.5 million for a mansion in the Los Feliz district of Los Angeles.

"I've started cooking lessons. I'm not sure how good I am at it," she admits. And her best recipe?

"I can't follow a recipe. I am not one of those people. I don't like to follow the rules, so I am a little bad at that."

Perhaps she's coming full circle to the former version of herself, back when we first met.

"Yes. I need to rediscover a little bit of some of the feeling of the old me, actually. I think we lose our way a bit and we get overwhelmed. I've had a lot happen in my life, from certain people passing to health issues to raising the children.

"It's been a very good time to absorb a lot and develop a lot and grow."

Lowdown

First They Killed My Father, on Netflix