Angelina Jolie Tells the Story of Her First Tattoo

After spending decades in the spotlight as an award-winning actress and prominent activist, it’s easy to forget the commotion Angelina Jolie caused when she initially burst onto the Hollywood scene. It feels like ages ago, but in the nineties it was unusual to see an A-List actress walking around with visible tattoos. Jolie was a rebel. 

Jolie looks back on the early days of her career, her work with the United Nations, the animals that have taken over her residence in Cambodia and much more in a recent interview with “Harper’s Bazaar.” What really caught our attention was the story the actress told about one of her very first tattoos. 

“I have a tattoo, ‘A prayer for the wild at heart kept in cages,'” Jolie says. “I got it when I was 20. I was with my mom one evening, and I was feeling lost. I was restless—always. I still am.

“We were driving to dinner, and she talked about spending time with Tennessee Williams and how much she loved his words,” Jolie continues. “She told me he wrote that, about the wild at heart. We drove to a tattoo parlor, and I got it inked on my left arm. What she did for me that night was to remind me that the wild within me is alright and a part of me.”

The meaning behind this tattoo is truly beautiful and is an example of why we’re so invested in tattoos in the first place. There’s the experience she had with her mother, there are the wise words from one of the world’s most respected playwrights and there is the mantra that embodies Jolie’s entire ethos. 

We highly recommend you give the entire article a read, it’s a fantastic portrait of one of our most interesting celebrities.