But throughout her life, she has dealt and continues to deal with many obstacles bravely.

According to the dictionary, synonyms for the word rebel include: contrary, defiant, ungovernable, and willful. Yup, that sounds like Angelina Jolie, a woman I’ve admired since long before she was the Hollywood force she is now.

I was first wowed when she played the troubled supermodel that died of AIDS in 1998’s “Gia.” The following year, watching “Girl Interrupted,” I felt like I was in love with Angelina — and I’m straight. The actress seemed half-crazy and angry, sad, wild. She reminded me of my own disturbed youth.

I fancied myself a rebel in my self-destructive days but, unlike my twisted rebellion without a cause, Angelina Jolie became a rebel with so many causes.

It didn’t start out that way for her. Her parents, actor Jon Voight and model Marcheline Bertrand, split up before she was two-years-old. Her brother James Haven has said, “I have horrible memories of my father. He was so tough on our mother. He lived in the same town. We saw him around Christmas time or at school recitals. He was always around but he never did his job as a father.”

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Written for Honeysuckle Magazine

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