Angelina Jolie reveals why she really got into acting

Los Angeles - Angelina Jolie became an actress to please her mother.

The Maleficent star - who is the daughter of actor Jon Voight and late actress Marcheline Bertrand - "only realised" she wasn't pursuing her dream career five years ago.

She said: "My mom always wanted me to be an actor. And I started going to theatre and going on auditions young. I only realised about five years ago that I actually didn't want to be an actor.

"I never knew the other. I grew up with my career being thrust upon me. It took me a long time to believe that I could do more than that one aspect of our business."

The brunette beauty - who raises children Maddox, 13, Pax, 11, Zahara, 10, Shiloh, nine, and twins Knox and Vivienne, six, with husband Brad Pitt - insists a celebrity lifestyle has never been important to her, which is why she enjoys working behind the camera as a director.

Speaking as she interviewed her Unbroken star Domhnall Gleeson for Interview magazine, she said: "I'm a very private person. I don't go out much. I'm home with kids. I go to work. I don't really like being the focus of attention, which is why I like being behind the camera more."

Domhnall stars in the forthcoming Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens and Angelina, who is a big fan of the franchise, asked him to "put in a good word" with director J.J. Abrams to land her the role of the wife of sci-fi bounty hunter Boba Fett.

She said: "Can Boba Fett have a missus? Well, put in a good word for me, then."