Was Angelina Jolie “damaged” professionally by the Sony Hack? I still can’t tell. When the initial flurry of information came out last December, I actually took the time to read through Angelina’s emails to Scott Rudin and Amy Pascal, and she seemed cool, efficient, focused and professional. Meanwhile, Rudin and the now-fired Pascal seemed like petty, immature Mean Girls. So now that Wikileaks has released the full cache of hacked documents from Sony, have we learned anything new about Angelina’s relationships with Pascal and Rudin?
According to SheKnows – who must have gone through the Wikileaks stuff with a fine-toothed comb – the emails between Pascal and Rudin were even worse than originally reported. Any time Jolie emails one or both of them about the Cleopatra project, Pascal and Rudin snipe about Jolie to each other, electronically rolling their eyes at whatever Jolie has written. At one point Rudin writes:
“I’m not remotely interested in presiding over a $180m ego bath… the last thing anybody needs is to make a giant bomb with her that any fool could see coming… I have no need to keep her happy. There is NO relationship with any movie star — ANY one — that requires our willingness to prostrate ourselves this way in the face of childish, irresponsible, willful and un-partnerly behavior.”
SheKnows says that after that, the “entire email string is full of both Rudin and Pascal taking turns bashing each other and Jolie along with anyone else who gets in their path.” When Pascal forwards her email chain with Rudin to Sony Entertainment CEO Michael Lynton, Lynton writes: “You guys are nuts to put this in an email.” Another Sony executive, Doug Belgrad, also got forwarded the same emails and he was also appalled, writing: “Maybe you guys should lay off the email.”
When a meeting gets canceled about Cleopatra – not canceled by Jolie, but she emails to confirm the cancelation – Rudin emails Pascal, writing: “She knows it’s off. Calm down. She’s an actress for hire, not Cleopatra.” Pascal replies, “I forgot.” Pascal and Rudin also trade insults about Jolie when Unbroken’s reviews are less than gushing, and they joke about how Angelina is trying to “woo” the Hollywood Foreign Press Association.
After all of that bitching – which took place throughout 2013 and 2014 – Scott Rudin still asked Angelina if she was interested in starring in Ma Ingalls in his film adaptation of Little House on the Prairie. Rudin wanted Angelina and Tom Cruise to star as Ma and Pa Ingalls, and while Angelina liked the script, she said no to him, writing: “I love Little House but don’t think I am the best person to do it. You have a very special project and a brilliant script and I am beyond grateful you would give me a chance to consider it.” This was literally happening around the same time that Rudin was screeching about how Angelina was a “spoiled brat.”
Photos courtesy of Getty, WENN.
Angelina on the prairie… I don’t think so. Haha
With Tom Cruise… what?!
That’s the part that got me more than Angelina! Could you imagine Tom as Pa?
@Kiki04
Me too! I can see Angelina (mainly because I remember Caroline Ingalls as someone who was very proper and ladylike, while being hard as nails), but TOM CRUISE?!!? You know he’d want five inch lifts next to Angelina….
That image is hilarious. I wonder if AJ was laughing her ass off as she composed the very gracious refusal.
Just the fact that these Sony idiots thought of Angelina and Tom as Ma and Pa Ingalls confirms that they should have been fired ages ago. Seriously? Now….Angelina as Mrs. Olson? Maybe….Perhaps Aniston could play Ma. That would be fun.
question…why did Pascal have to leave her job and not Rudin?
Also, tom cruise in little house on the prairie no, just no! don’t ruin my favorite childhood books!
@Laura
Rudin is an independent producer. He works with whoever he wants. Pascal was the co chair of Sony Pictures…..
And OOPS….I thought Angelina might’ve been a good choice (although not obvious) if the film was when they were….younger? Like I was thinking of a movie that focused more on Caroline and Charles, not on Laura and the kids……Anyway, I think it would be cool to see a movie about how the move West affected Caroline and Charles’ relationship. I remember Charles as being such a big and warm father, and I don’t see him as someone who browbeat (or literally beat) his wife. I think he discussed it with Caroline, and that they were in it together. But that still could’ve been hard. And if you cast someone like Angelina (or another really beautiful woman), you could add an element of “why did she choose to marry a poor farmer who kept moving their family west, when she could’ve married some bank manager/random rich person and lived in the east, out of danger, due to her being drop dead gorgeous?”….that was what I thought, anyway.
Actually, Caroline was supposedly a striking beauty from a wealthier family, and no one really understood why she picked Charles and followed him out west…
LHOTP…over Cleopatra??? Rudin and Pascal are NUTS!
Pascal has coke mouth like she’s gargling marbles or chewing ice.
It sounds like Angelina was letting them down nicely. I also agree that the email exchange sounds like a bunch of bitchy mean girls. They were totally unnecessary.
Rudin, sycophant, overfeeds her ego, then bashes her for having fed it! (Even though she has exhibited zero ego thus far that I’ve seen in these leaks.) Another big fat Sony (and Rudin) fail!
I’m not sure if they are stupid or immature or both, but I can’t believe these emails. Angelina seems to have handled it with professionalism and tact. She could have written, “Little House on the Prairie?? Are you f*ing kidding me? With Tom Cruise? Hahahahaha! Yeah, that’ll be a hit! Where’s my bonnet?” These two morons deserve to be exposed for who they are.
This! In all her responses thus far Jolie comes accross as perfectly reasonable, and respectful. If anything she knows her brand…Angie as Ma Ingalls? Rudin truly lives in Crazyland.
yeah, she totally came off as very professional in that response.
yours is more likely what she was actually thinking. lord knows it what I was thinking!
I feel like their attention on Angie is personal. Angie has come across thus far perfectly fine and professional while these big wigs sound like jackasses.
Completely agree. Sounds like jealousy or something.
Agreed! Definitely sounds like a grudge against Angie.
Angelina is also the only one who appears to have used proper spelling and punctuation (not to mention a professional tone) in her emails.
Oneshot, exactly.
The only sane ones in this whole scenario are Jolie, Lynton and Belgrad.
Is Rudin bipolar or what?
These are not symptoms of bipolar disorder. These are symptoms of an egomaniacal two-faced asshole mean girl.
Both him & Pascal sound & look a lot more like a pair of major coke heads rather than bipolar
I’m not going to take character assassinations from SCOTT RUDIN of all people seriously at all. He is well documented as being literally the worst.
It’s a hard call who’s worse–him or Weinstein.
Well I’m not going to defend Angelina’s Cleopatra because that’s pure ego trip and foolishness.
I don’t doubt they don’t have to like Angelina to want to work with her and see if she can bring them in money. Lying and manipulation is the name of the game and it’s pretty clear they don’t like her.
Also why does Amy Pascal always look like she’s been hit by a truck in every photo I’ve ever seen of her?
Have you read the book this movie is going to be based on? It is not a ego trip as all and instead shows Cleo as a strong, inteligent woman who used her mind to handle Ceasar and Marc Anthony.
Amy, it’s called “b*tchface”.
Lol. Perhaps she was offered Ma Ingalls part as some joke, like “let’s dent that ego some”. Or maybe it was a half hearted offer to create the impression that they do desperately want to work with her. Anyone can see she would be spectacularly wrong for it.
Rudin wanted to do an entire Little House series of films.
And to be accurate Rudin’s email to Jolie is an offer to DIRECT Little House. He adds the acting offer as an added bonus. He suggests she can have any role she wants.
He is persistent even after she demurs and says she dosn’t think she’s the right person for the job.
They are trolling….Jolie and Cruise together …in Little House …..LOL
yes, has to be a joke. no one could seriously suggest that.
Makes you wonder who they wanted for the rest of the cast. Blake Lively as Mary?
Haha! Perfect!
I stole my husband’s idea
She should be Nellie!
I thought the same thing, that has to be a joke. If he was pissed off at her, I almost wonder if he did it as a little dig. “I don’t want to spend 200 million making you Cleopatra…how about Ma Ingalls?”
I am rolling my eyes at the ridiculousness of this casting idea. Sounds like Rudin was trying to fit the two most high profile celebrities he could imagine into this project, irregardless of the obvious miscasting.
+1 nuts! As others have said, she was smart to turn it down.
I’m more amazed that they thought having Tom Cruise and Angelina Jolie as Ma and Pa Ingalls was a good idea, esp. Cruise. I get that he did Far and Away, but I doubt people would believe him as a Pa Ingalls-type now.
My favourite part is when he says he’s got something with her in mind, and she assumes ( a big big-headedly) that he’s offering her the chance to direct Cleopatra.
Angie-
You’re very kind. If Cleo, in absolutely flattered but really feel I couldn’t possibly direct myself in that. I will think on it but it’s really tough and not sure best for overall.
Are we not holding Marty’s interest or pulling in others? Let’s all talk this week
Xxx
Scott-
Not Cleo! Something else. Something very special.
I’m not that kind. I’m self-interested and focusing my intense self-interest on YOU.
You can tell he thinks she’s an egomaniac, but she doesn’t really come across that way.
Wow, this whole exchange makes Rudin a complete ass. I’m surprised Pascal took the brunt of this. Meanwhile, Rudin continues his job and faces hardly any repercussions at all. Ugh.
Glad she said no to that part, it would be wrong for her I think. As for all the leak drama, yes, she has come out looking by far the best in my opinion. Always classy.
Good lord, what a sad little gollum he is.
I think other producers complained about actors too. The thing that got more attention is because they were dissing a big star like Angelina Jolie and probably mentioning her name directly.
you get the last part of the email he asked to direct & star the movie but she declined both nicely
Please do include the email Amy sent to a colleague calling Rudin a back stabber, betrayer and vile man who karma is awaiting to ruin. That Rudin ruined Sony’s relationship with the likes Fincher, Scorsese, Angelina and many others.
In all of this mess – Angelina came out as the polite, professional adult. I personally don’t think it has affected Angelina professionally at all – By The Sea is bought and ready to be released by Universal, Africa is in pre production (Leekey even confirmed Brad, Angelina & Meryl Streep are going to act in it), newer emails suggest Cleo is going to go ahead with Angelina, Daniel Day Lewis, Leo D and directed by Scorsese.
Rudin is the one who has been damaged professionally.
+1000
Well, and Amy Pascal has proven she can’t write a coherent email to save her life
Here when he asked her at some point & begged her to direct the movie but declined nicely
“I actually think this is a great fit for you. It’s humanist, political, modern, classical, emotional, funny, enormous in aspect and scale and in its effect, and openhearted and elemental in how it achieves enormous emotion. It’s an action film on one level and a saga — like Steinbeck or Ferber — in its scope and macro view of a churning, changing world — and its subject really is gender. It’s also a hugely beloved series of books that I’d like to make many of. The series is honestly spectacular. It’s like Grapes of Wrath somehow crossed by The Member of the Wedding, which the scale and breadth of the former, and the detail and the intimacy of the latter. It needs your ambition and your reach and your need to be great. I need it to be great. You can direct it, play it if you want (nobody better on earth than you to play this Mother Courage) handle the kids magnificently by being IN the scenes with them — but mostly I want to tap into the scale and capaciousness of you, of who you are, and make a movie that wants 100 per cent of you. This is that movie. I have good instincts that tend to work — this will work. I know it. This is something you should do — not for careers but for life. Some things you don’t say no to. This is one of them. I know in my heart what this is and it wants you.”
Tacky emails between those two. BUT a beyond massive budget like that for this kind of project the way it was being described earlier did have bomb written all over it.
I thought the same thing. Angie came off as an “artiste” in those e-mails, for sure, but at no time did I think she was bratty or even particularly rude.
Yes- I think it’s 2 strong personalities/egos, each with their own clashing interests ( and a wimpy, whiny Pascal playing the middle), but to her credit, Angelina always comes across as professional.
It’s not unusual for a woman to be perceived very negatively if she is forthright and vigorously defends her ideas. I suspect this is what was happening in those crazy e-mails. Jolie comes across fine, always professional and polite but not a doormat. Some people are more comfortable with female doormats.
I can’t believe how nice she is to those backstabbers. I always got the sense that she is naive about certain things and people in her life. Like Brad is probably cheating all the time but she thinks he’s wonderful and faithful.
The way pascal and RUDEin talked about her was probably shocking to her.
so u think that aj is a very naive person – naive doesnt work in hollywood – and that dig abt brad cheating on her is unfair – we are not discussing bp but rudin and amy’s pascal emails – it is rather petty for u to bring brad into this conversation esp when he is not involved with this at all.
Angie always comes across as so professional, polite, clear headed, calm and to the point. She’s lovely and never seems to get distracted from what she wants.
It’s those two that sound like spoilt brats.
I usually detest focusing on dress and physical appearance with powerful women BUT Amy Pascal….It blows my mind that she was such a power player. She always looks disheveled and almost slovenly–even at formal events. She was a high paid, high powered exec. You think she’d dress sharper or better. I would peg her as some lackey if I didn’t know her name.
LHOTP had 2 successful television films and a series. I don’t think people want to fork over $60 with popcorn to see it on the big screen!
Good for AJ, for behaving so professionally–she could have really unleased on them! The whole premise seems like an Airplane! type of spoof–Tom Cruise, Angelina? What next–Lady Gaga as Dr Quinn, Medicine Woman?
The more that comes out from this leak, the more respect I have for Angelina Jolie and her professionalism. Rudin and Pascal are jerks, and it’s a shame only one of them lost their job.
Agree!
And shame it’s the woman while the man kept his
That’s how you get things done: by never losing your cool.
Angelina is right not to retaliate. This is business; it’s not personal.
Don’t kid yourself. It’s very personal. No one in HW can stand her!
Lots of people can stand Angelina! What a generalization to say no one can.
She seems easy going & easy to get along with.
Lol Hi Mag I see your here with yet another predictable comment. I’m surprised to only see one comment from you, you must be busy. Maybe next time you’ll be up to your usual level of hate. 🙂
Madelina/Maggie, if that were true, she would not be sought after to star in important movies. She would also not be the number one feminist and most admired in, and out of Hollywood. I know you want it to be true but unfortunately she is much loved in and out of Hollywood that’s a fact sorry. Many actresses have come out and said they loved working with Angelina. No one who has ever worked with her, has had ONE BAD WORD to say about her. No one. Unlike someone else who was exposed by Mohr for being a spiteful, selfish and narcissistic brat. Also by an ex room-mate. Don’t kid yourself. I know someone who no one can stand in Hollywood. And it is not Angelina Jolie.
well if they cannot stand her then they are doing a great impression of standing her – u may not like her fine but the fact that pple are itching to work with her and brad and plan b etc shows how wrong u are. do u think a list pple will waste their time and money working with bp and aj – bp is working with tom hanks norton christian bale on his movie and he has other films in the pipeline etc – all a list pple – and for angelina jolie her 2nd movie made its money considering the subject matter and the no stars in the film and she has directed a 3rd one – so she can pick and choose what she wants to do or act in – which other actress of her generation can do that. sandra bullock maybe – ? hollywood and every other job has pple who may not like each other but anything that can make money pple will tend to be attracted to
This is the first I’ve heard of a LHOTP movie. Is this a joke? Is Tom Cruise really in talks to play Charles Ingalls? And Angelina Jolie as Caroline Ingalls? Have any of these people READ those books or looked further into Laura Ingalls Wilder’s life than just the 1970s t.v. series?
Now I am going to spend the rest of my morning casting the Little House on the Prairie Movie in my head.
Bryan Cranston- Mr Olson
Dakota Fanning- Nellie
Imelda Staunton- Mrs Olson
Lily James – Mary
Willow Shields- Half Pint
Hailey McCann- Carrie
Laura Dern- Ma
Gerard Butler- Pa
From the emails I read, Rudin offered A give to be first and foremost Director of the movie, and the small part of Ma Ingalls was and added thing, if she wants it. he had other actresses in mind, like Reese, Naomi, Charlize, I believe.
yeah, Angie came across as very professional and very polite in her emails, and she came across as someone who does her homework despite her very busy schedules. From her emails, she really seems like a sincere and sweet person.
I think Amy didn’t really say anything bad about Angie, it was only Rudin who was mean and bitchy. But the things is, Pascal never defended Her also from Rudin’s tirade. I guess, it’s really just her style, she goes with the flow. But both of them are really insincere people and it seems their ego can’t take it that Angie make them wait, never kiss their @ss and even turn them down.
It’s a good thing that these emails came out, so Angie would know the real persona of those people that she deals with. she may not be naive, but she may be sheltered because she spends most of her time just with her family when not filming and don’t really mingle with HW people that much. I think Brad maybe more shrewd than her and sees through the meanness of people like Rudin.
i need to see this movie! i need to see tom cruise squinting crazily off into the distance and trying to get seaorg to plow his fields.
Hold up:
Cleopatra is somehow a sure-to-be-failure, but Little House on the Prarie is a surefire win?!
What is Rudin smoking?!
The good stuff, apparently.
And please–Rudin wanted Angelina on Little House because when he sent her that ass kissy email, it was in the middle of “Maleficent” making three quarters of a billion dollars worldwide…the email was sent in the summer of 2014, while the emails about Angelina being a minimally talented spoiled brat that was going to ruin his movie (and someone he wasn’t gong to put up with) were sent in February/March of 2014.
And in this, I don’t see how Rudin is SUCH an auteur. He wanted to make a “Cleopatra” that we’d all seen before–one of the world’s most beautiful actress playing as a sex symbol who used her “wiles” to seduce men in power. THAT’S the story he wanted to make….which is not what he brought to Angelina/what they agreed on in the beginning of the partnership. She wanted/wants to make a story about Cleopatra’s political savvy-ness, NOT have the whole movie hinge on how many “O” face she can make in a minute. Angelina disagreed with him and pushed to make a more interesting version of Cleo, which is why he got all pissy.
Hmm. I’m thinking a Little House on the Prairie movie would gross at least $80M, more if they cast it properly—so not with AJ or TC in starring roles. If they made it with some integrity and went after the Disney + religious right base, they could bring in 9 figures easily. But world-wide, the appeal would be far less, no doubt.
I loved LHOTP when I was young, but I grew up in the Prairies. I’m not sure I would see a movie now no matter who was cast in it.
How did Rudin get to keep his job and Pascal didn’t? He seems far worse in these emails. A real tyrant with a huge ego. Doesn’t seem fair to me.
he has his own production company/works for himself. Amy was the only fireable one because she was attached to the studio directly.
If you read one of Amy’s emails it seems Rudin lost his $2 million a year retainer with SONY. So when Amy finally got fed up with him he certainly lost something.
Umm, if Hollywood is really making a LHOTP movie I’m going to have to insist they cast Laura Linney and Jeffrey Dean Morgan as Ma and Pa.
That would be a really good cast too……I was thinking if they were going to go with “younger” characters, that they would pick someone like Tom Hardy or Liam Neeson. Someone who actually looks like they do hard physical work.
Laura Linney would be fantastic.
Reuniting Laura with her “You can count on me co-star” Mark Ruffalo might also work. I can see him as Pa.
I feel like AJ is the class act here and Rudin is a (well known) horse’s ass. That said, and Cleopatra’s story is undeniably dramatic, I’ve no desire to see Cleopatra depicted again. I’d rather see AJ as oh I don’t know…Boudicca? Zenobia? A powerful, historic leader we haven’t seen depicted as often as Cleopatra.
I’d like to see Angelina play the part of April in Ninja Turtles.
I thought Unbroken was supposed to be not so good but I watched it anyway and thought it was really good!
Maybe she could play Mrs. Olsen
AJ gives “celebrity” a good name. She always gives me every reason to admire her. When I read the leaked email regarding her response to Rudin & Amy, she strikes me as very polite, respectable & sensitive. I like the way she constructs her letter just like how she writes her op-eds. There is never a diva attitude in her dealings with them no matter how rude they are. She is giving me examples how to deal with people regardless every time. She’s calm & collected. Very professional. With her example, we can truly learn a great deal from her. Indeed, a role model. Love her more than ever. We are fortunate to have admired the right person… someone who somehow can improve us as well even just indirectly.
Even if some people are mean towards AJ, she still treats them with kindness. She deals every situation in a civilized manner…. and if it’s worst case scenario, she deals with INDIFFERENCE but she is never, never rude. You know, I commend her mother for raising AJ so well and imparting good values that she carries with her & sharing with her family and especially to her children.
Yeah, I don’t think someone like Angie would be allowed to direct LHOTP. I think Rudin was mocking her directing efforts actually when he wrote that. Maybe star in it, but she has a kind of face not suitable for a farm chick. She is beautiful, but I can’t imagine her being a character in that time frame. Same with Tom Cruise. They are both mega-movie stars .
maybe rudin knows that anything associated with aj would be a massive hit just on her name alone. I think aj never took this seriously at all – she has a better film sense than what rudin or even pascal
have.
Man, Angelina is so nice, professional, considerate, etc.
“You guys are nuts to put this in an email.” Michael is correct.