Angelina Jolie: "I'm Not Completely Clumsy or Gross"

Actress admits she's not exactly naturally poised when discussing her family, fame and Johnny Depp on the Today show

By Gina Serpe Dec 07, 2010 3:52 PMTags

Being a lady doesn't exactly come naturally to Angelina Jolie. (Bite your tongue, Chelsea Handler.)

Which proved to be something of a problem when she worked with the ever charismatic and gentlemanly Johnny Depp. So what'd she do about it?

She had a visit from a professional Miss Manners.

"I was playing such a lady, and he was playing a math teacher, so that in itself was funny," she told the Today show this morning, going on to detail the preparation that allowed her to pass herself off as a graceful woman of the world in The Tourist.

"She needs to speak more elegantly, she needs to sit with more poise," she said of her character. "I'm not completely clumsy or gross, but there's something about this type of woman that doesn't come naturally to me.

"She's extremely…she takes her time with everything, I'm an American, I do 10 things before breakfast."

And for the past few months, at least one of those 10 things was work with Depp.

Despite the assumption that everyone famous somehow knows each other, Jolie said that prior to the movie, she'd never actually met Depp.

"I always wanted to and I've always loved his movies." Yeah, welcome to the club.

"We had friends in common," she explained. "I'd heard from Brad, 'You're gonna love him, he's a great guy.'" That'd be Brad Pitt, obviously.

And Depp, for his part, did not disappoint.

"You knew the guy who does Alice in Wonderland and Edward Scissorhands, you know that person can't be someone who takes themselves too seriously or doesn't have a good sense of humor. He's as lovely and interesting as you could hope for."

Not to mention, they shared a common trait.

"We're both actually homebodies at the end of the day," Jolie said. Of course, that's harder to be these days, and the star said she remains baffled as to the world's fascination with her life.

"I don't find myself that interesting in that way. I like to think I've become a better woman as I've gotten older and I have a full life, but I do the same thing everyday in my natural life, I wear the same thing every day, I don't go out."

Still, she doesn't feel particularly singled out for her life in the spotlight.

"I feel like it happens to everybody. It's a weird time right now, where there's just so much of all of that for everybody. It's a new world. I just assume the older I get, the more it'll go away. The more private I'll become."

And she may have found a way to do just that. Jolie is currently working on her directorial debut and for all its controversy, she seems to have found a new niche.

"I much preferred being behind the camera," she said. "I loved it, I loved it."

Expect to see (or not see) her there much more in the future.