Jolie feels for her character

Last Modified: 20 May 2008
Source: ITN

Angeline Jolie said she could not imagine anything worse than losing a child, when discussing her new film The Exchange.

Directed by Clint Eastwood, the movie is based on the real-life story of working class single mother Christine Collins played by Jolie, whose nine-year-old son Walter goes missing.

Five months later a child claiming to be the boy is returned and police are eager to bask in a public relations coup of reuniting mother and son.

Christine takes the boy home, but knows in her heart he is not Walter.

The film is set in Los Angeles in 1928 and tells how the woman's invincible spirit brought down a police department and ushered in a new era of equality.

She finds an ally in community activist Gustav Briegleb played by John Malkovich.

In her search for answers, Christine becomes an unlikely heroine for those who have been swept aside.

Speaking at the Cannes Film Festival where the film is showing in competition, Jolie said: "To lose a child, I can't imagine anything worse, especially not knowing the fate of that child."

Jolie, who is pregnant with twins, said that as a modern, outspoken woman, she knew the part was going to be a challenge.

She said she imagined the frustration she would feel if she were in the situation.

The actress said: "I lost my own mother a few months before the film. My mother was very passive in many ways and very sweet, but when it came to her children, she was a lion."

She said Christine reminded her of her mother Marcheline Bertrand and it was a way of re-visiting her.

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