Jon Voight feels fine in a supporting role

DESMOND SAMPSON discovers where Angelina Jolie gets
her headstrong independence from.

Jon Voight is curled up on a sofa in his suite at London's Dorchester Hotel, cradling a glass of water and reflecting on how, at 62, he's now better known as Angelina Jolie's father.

"It's weird how things can change," he chuckles, acknowledging how his role alongside Jolie - he plays the father of the title character in Lara Croft: Tomb Raider - parallels his daughter's screen debut, aged 7, in the 1982 comedy Lookin' To Get Out.

"Everything's turned full circle and Angelina's the big star now. But I'm proud of her and what she's achieved. I don't have any problems with her having top billing."

Voight used to be the one with his name above the title. In the 70s and early 80s he was one of the most respected actors in Hollywood.

In 1969, he received an Oscar nomination for playing Joe Buck, the innocent male prostitute in Midnight Cowboy.

Nine years later, he won the coveted Best Actor accolade as the truculent, disabled Vietnam vet in Coming Home.

But the Academy Award became a millstone as Hollywood lost its appeal for the actor. Voight was increasingly frustrated by the poor parts on offer and fussier about the roles he accepted.

"When I was younger, I passed a lot of parts on to other actors," he admits. "I'd look at the script and think 'Is this story worth telling?' Most of the time it wasn't. People had to really chase me to do a movie.

"Now it's a little easier to get me to agree to do something, because I've mellowed. Back then I had impossibly high standards."

By the late 80s, Voight was more interested in humanitarian causes than Hollywood, and took on the role of ambassador for various charities.

"I used to apologise for my celebrity because I thought fame was such a shallow thing. Then I realised I could use it to help people.

"That's why I started doing those films with a humanitarian aspect - a film on Chernobyl, something about the plight of native American Indians and a film about the sinking of the Rainbow Warrior.

"I made that movie because it was such an important issue - and because I hadn't been to New Zealand before. I didn't realise how beautiful it was. It was great to make such a worthwhile movie in such a wonderful country, away from the glare of Hollywood."

Voight continued to shun Tinseltown until his terminally ill mother implored him to return to the limelight.

"I think she realised I wasn't completely happy away from acting. She said I should get back into it, so I did, for her. Now I find it as enjoyable and challenging as I did at the beginning."

Since his return, in Mission: Impossible, Voight's been busy with projects including Pearl Harbor, in which he played President Franklin Roosevelt. He's starred in 18 films in the past five years - more than he appeared in during the previous two decades.

So how was it playing the on-screen father of his off-screen daughter in Lara Croft: Tomb Raider?

"Very special," he enthuses. "We'd been looking for something we could work on together for quite a while, but nothing seemed right until this.

"As a father, spending time with your children is the greatest thing, so to get to work with Angelina was very satisfying.

"It was also quite worrying because Angelina insisted on doing the majority of her stunts. It was really hard not to pull rank as a concerned father - there are several sequences in this picture where she could have been severely injured if not killed.

"I'd be on the sidelines with the stunt coordinator saying, 'You're pushing her too hard', or pulling her aside and telling her she was taking too many risks.

"But she wouldn't listen. She's too independent, too headstrong."

Wonder where she gets it from ...

"Exactly! She was impossible - just like me," laughs Voight, uncoiling his lanky frame before striding off down the corridor to find his wayward daughter.

* Lara Croft: Tomb Raider opens tomorrow.