Angelina Jolie Was Emancipated To Film Her First Nude Scene In A Movie
In Angelina Jolie’s first film, Cyborg 2: Glass Shadow, PAPER reports, she was called upon to do a topless scene at the age of 17, leading her to go through the legal process to be considered an adult. Children and teenagers are considered minors until they reach what is legally referred to as the “age of majority,” that is when they are no longer considered to be minors. In most states in the US, the age of majority is 18, though in some states it is different with some setting the bar at age 17.
In order to appear nude in Cyborg 2, 17-year-old Angelina Jolie had to be emancipated from her parents and no longer considered a minor.
Still, 18 remains the generally accepted age a person should reach before being considered an adult, though Angelina Jolie was making an excellent case for adulthood by the time she got her first role in Cyborg 2: Glass Shadow. The 1993 film bore no relation to the 1989 Jean-Claude Van Damme film and was considered a B movie, but it was a breakthrough for Jolie.
The film’s director, Michael Schroeder, was having a hard time finding an actor who could convey the robotic nature of a cyborg while still having a compelling onscreen presence.
Angelina Jolie fit the bill so perfectly that the director was willing to do whatever it took to get her cast for the movie, which was set to include a topless scene. Rather than lose the scene, it was decided that Jolie would be legally emancipated from her parents, Marcheline Bertrand and actor Jon Voight, so she could be considered an adult.
This was not a stretch as Jolie was already living on her own with her boyfriend and had, according to Schroeder, finished her final two years of high school “in five months.”
It was a plan to which Angelina Jolie agreed and the legal process was undertaken to have a judge agree to the filing. Once that was done, the young star was considered an adult and the hurried production schedule could move forward. For his part, Schroeder felt the move made sense as Jolie was “the most mature 17-year-old” he had ever met.
Angelina Jolie fit the bill so perfectly that the director was willing to do whatever it took to get her cast for the movie, which was set to include a topless scene.
Indeed, Angelina Jolie is well known not only for her self-determination but for her sharp intellect. Her parents had separated in 1976, when Jolie was barely a year old, and she had always had a dysfunctional relationship with her father, whose surname she later had legally removed from her name.
Her middle name, Jolie, which she had long used as her stage name, became her surname in 2002, after a reconciliation and subsequent falling out with her famous father.
Cyborg 2
As to Angelina Jolie’s performance in Cyborg 2, while it led to an emancipation from her parents that seemed fitting for her station in life, it is not considered among her greatest performances. And that makes sense, as it was her first movie role, and one that required quite a bit of her at a fairly young age.
Whether due to her acting or the film itself is unclear, but according to PAPER, Jolie once told The New York Times that she went home and “got sick” after seeing the film.
Still, the traits that made Angelina Jolie the director’s pick for the role—her confidence and poise, her maturity, her screen presence, and he ability to handle action scenes—have continued to define her storied career.
She has won an Emmy, Golden Globes, Screen Actors Guild Awards, and a Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her role in Girl, Interrupted. She was even nominated for a Best Actress Oscar for Changeling in 2009.
Whether due to her acting or the film itself is unclear, Jolie once said that she went home and “got sick” after seeing the film.
Through her onscreen work, as well as her humanitarian efforts, Angelina Jolie has continued to be one of Hollywood’s brightest stars, showing far more than the ability to play a cyborg. Cyborg 2 might not have been the most glamorous start, but the career Jolie has built since has shown her to be emancipated indeed.
