Dressed in a sleek black Dolce & Gabbana suit, sultry Oscar winner Angelina Jolie was greeted by 4,000 fans in London’s Leicester Square on Tuesday night when she arrived for the UK premiere of Lara Croft: Tomb Raider. Angelina, who stars as the gun-toting uber-babe in the top-grossing action film, chatted with fans alongside her husband Billy Bob Thornton for 20 minutes before settling into Empire Cinema for the screening.
“I’m hoping it’s going to be empowering for everybody,” says Angelina of the film. “Hopefully it will inspire a lot of people to be strong and healthy.”
And though the film has earned less than glowing reviews, Angelina shrugged off any insult. “People think I’m in denial – but I don’t care,” she said. “I love my work.”
Angelina’s father Jon Voight, who appears with his daughter on-screen for the first time in the film, praises the pouty star. “It gives her a chance to show off all that stuff I knew about when she was growing up, all the athletics she was good at in school,” says Jon.
Former All Saints singer Natalie Appleton also attended the bash with daughter Rachel, who appears in the film as the young Lara. Spice Girl Mel C was also among the guests at the screening, as was X-Files star Gillian Anderson.
But it was model Nell McAndrew who perhaps made the biggest splash. Nell, who made her name posing as Lara Croft at promotional appearances for the famed video game, dropped by the premiere in a risqué purple rubber dress designed by London outfit House of Harlot. Though the film’s producers reportedly banned the busty beauty from the festivities, fearing just such a spectacle, the cheeky Nell showed up anyway. “I was told they didn’t want me here,” she said. “But it’s a free country and I’ve got a ticket.”
Lara Croft: Tomb Raider opens in theatres across the UK on Friday.
Photo: © Alphapress.com
Photo: © Alphapress.com
Photo: © Alphapress.com
