How Tomb Raider Helped Angelina Jolie Kick A Two-Pack-a-Day Habit

Angelina Jolie had no idea that playing Lara Croft would change her life in more ways than one. Before filming Tomb Raider in 2001, she was smoking two packs of cigarettes a day — a habit she hadn’t thought much about. But once training for the physically demanding role began, everything changed.

Speaking at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival on Feb. 5, where she received the Maltin Modern Master award, Angelina, 49, looked back on the transformation. “I admittedly came [in] smoking two packs a day and completely had to change my health and my life,” she shared during a Q&A with critic Leonard Maltin.

The intense training was something new for Angelina, but she embraced it fully. “For Tomb Raider, there were a few months of just nothing but multiple training sessions a day: morning, noon, and night. And I didn’t want anything but good food, water, and sleep at a certain point,” she recalled.

She found that as her body adapted to the new lifestyle, her cravings changed, and cigarettes no longer fit into her routine. “I was in training, and that’s what your body [wants]… You change,” she explained.

After the film, Angelina had children and left smoking behind for good. “I never did it again… Well, I think I did once or twice,” she admitted with a laugh.

Now a mom of six —Maddox, 23, Pax, 21, Zahara, 20, Shiloh, 18, and twins Knox and Vivienne, 16, whom she shares with ex-husband Brad Pitt — Angelina looks back at that period as a turning point in her life.