Life or Something Like It (2002)

In LIFE OR SOMETHING LIKE IT, Angelina Jolie portrays a woman who sees the world and herself through rose-colored glasses. Her perfectionist personality is revealed through her extensive, expensive wardrobe and accessories. But as she embarks on her personal journey, her style reflects the dramatic changes she at first resists, but then embraces.

Working together closely with Jolie was Academy Award®-nominated costume designer Aggie Rodgers (The Color Purple), who previously collaborated with Herek on Rock Star, Mr. Holland's Opus and Ho/y Man. Working with Jolie's long-time hair stylist Cohn Jamison and personal make-up artist Janeen Schreyer, Rodgers transformed Jolie from a brunette to a stunning platinum blond, complete with a wardrobe and hairstyle that evokes the look of a fifties-era movie star bombshell.

"Angelina was clear from the beginning, that's how she wanted to look," says Rodgers. I also think Angelina's choice to wear the Dolce & Gabbana line was a really good one. They are beautiful suits, strong colors and great textures that fit her just perfectly." The suit's long arms, very narrow ribcage and pencil late-fifties skirt, complemented the actor's enviable figure and the image Jolie envisioned for Lanie Kerrigan.

Filming on LIFE OR SOMETHING LIKE IT began in Seattle, with the production then moving on to locations in Vancouver and New York City. The filmmakers solved one of their biggest location challenges by setting up at Seattle's KOMO-TV studios, which ensured the production's That's Seattle Life set looked authentic. Among the thirty-plus locations used in Vancouver, the Art Deco Marine Building served as the New York-based "A.M. USA" offices, where Lanie hopes to realize her dream and work as a major network reporter.

Lanie's one-week journey of laughs, self-discovery and redemption are impressive. But they hardly compare to the real-life honor bestowed upon the actor who plays her, Angelina Jolie. After wrapping LIFE OR SOMETHING LIKE IT, Jolie earned the title of goodwill ambassador for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. While filming Lara Croft: Tomb Raider in Cambodia, Jolie met former refugees who told her about the UNHCR. When she called requesting information, the organization offered to make her an ambassador on the spot. Rather than immediately accept, Jolie paid her own way to visit Africa, Cambodia and Pakistan to meet relief workers and refugees, after which she accepted the title.

---