Jolie Talks Kids and the Movies

Her film "Changeling" highlights a mom's instinct, which she's an expert on.

ByABC News
October 17, 2008, 11:33 AM

Oct. 17, 2008 — -- These days, it's all about the kids.

When actress Angelina Jolie, a mother of six, and director Clint Eastwood, a father of seven, sat down for an interview for ABC News Now's "Popcorn With Peter Travers," kids were the inevitable topic du jour.

In part that's because Eastwood's new film, "Changeling," which opens Oct. 24, and stars Jolie, is based on the true story of a woman forced to prove that the son returned to her after a kidnapping is not her own.

It's also because Jolie, who was making her first public appearance in New York since having twins Knox and Vivienne in July, has become one of the most famous moms on the planet.

Asked how she shields her six-pack from the pop culture, of which she is a part, Jolie said: "The important thing is you can only censor so much," she said.

"They'll find things. They'll find it at a friend's house. You've got to make sure they get enough good stuff and nice stories and good messages at home and got some purity to it. But I think it's also making sure they have a life outside all that pop culture and making sure they travel and see the world, they go outside enough and play dress up, and do all those things children should be doing so they get balance, so their mind is balanced," she said.

These days, motherhood is such an immense part of Jolie's life that she hesitated before taking the role of Christine Collins in "Changeling."

"I read it in one sitting," Jolie told Travers. "And I was so angry as a mother that I didn't want to do it, I didn't want to touch it, I didn't want to think about anyone kidnapping my children. I didn't want to go near it. But I couldn't forget it and I couldn't stop thinking about her and I kept telling people about this amazing woman and so I realized that her story and the story of what she overcame and that she fought the system and who she was and I really wanted to tell it. It was confronting one of my worst fears, so it was a very difficult film and thankfully I had him [Eastwood] to help me through and made it all right."