How did Angelina Jolie train for Lara Croft role

A. She endured months of training and had to put on a lot of weight for the role. In her first week, the producers banned cigarettes, alcohol and bread, and she followed a strict food regime to maintain strength and energy for the all-action role. Jolie took up kick boxing, dog sledding and gymnastics and she even tried bungee jumping.

Jolie, who is American, also spent months with a voice coach in Britain. She says she spent the first three weeks of her training listening to English aristocrats speak before moving on to regional variations. She eventually decided on Lara Croft's English accent and spent weeks perfecting her vowels. The distinctive Lara Croft costume was designed by Academy Award-winning designer Linda Hemming.

Q. What is the film about

A. Jolie stars as the penumatic Lara Croft - the adventurer-archaeologist of the immensely popular video games. Tomb Raider , which has the same name as the video games, sees Lara Croft travelling from the frozen ruins of an Arctic glacier to a forgotten valley in the South American rainforest in her quest to find lost treasures from forgotten empires. The action also takes place in the Angkor Wat temples in Cambodia where the production team had to obtain permission to use guns on the understanding they would not be fired.

Q. Who directed the film

A. Simon West directed the movie, which is scheduled for release later this year. But he says the movie almost did not get made because he turned the job down, only later realising the film had potential as a female James Bond. Jolie insisted on doing most of the Indiana Jones-type action stunt work herself and she inisisted that part of the reason she took the role was because her ex-husband Jonny Lee Miller used to spend so much time on the computer playing Tomb Raider.

Q. Isn't her father in the movie

A. The actor cast to play Lara Croft's father is American actor Jon Voigt, who is Angelina Jolie's real-life father.

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By Katharine MacColl