Angelina Jolie's Latest Incarnation: Filmmaker

NEW YORK (AP) — In a life that has been notable for its many metamorphoses — screen starlet, Goth vixen, United Nations ambassador, mother of six, breast cancer awareness advocate — Angelina Jolie's latest incarnation is as filmmaker. [...] she's virtually disappeared from the screen, starring in only one live-action film ("Maleficent") in the last four years. [...] if there were any doubt, the scope of "Unbroken" — a classical epic that spans war and sea, a prestige picture with major below-the-line talent, a Christmas Day release amid awards season — certainly makes clear Jolie's ambition. Zamperini's incredible life was chronicled in a 2010 best-seller by Laura Hillenbrand, though his tale had been kicking around in Hollywood since 1956, when Universal Pictures bought the rights to Zamperini's memoir with plans for Tony Curtis to star in the film. [...] she doesn't know as much about the technical aspects of filmmaking as some people like Joel and Ethan (Coen) do, but she learns very quickly and she's so passionate about it all," says cinematography Roger Deakins, the Coens' usual director of photography, who's also slated to shoot "Africa. "Unbroken" has put Jolie into the awards season mix, though the film was conspicuously absent from the Golden Globes nominations. Jolie screened the film for Zamperini on his deathbed, and she vividly recalls "those beautiful blue eyes" seeing his life's story, revisiting memories and family Zamperini knew, she says, he'd soon be reunited with.