When Angelina Jolie Became Maleficent, Her Own Daughter Was One of the Few Children Who Wasn't Afraid

When Angelina Jolie first appeared on the set of Disney's Maleficent in full costume, she discovered something the filmmakers had not quite anticipated.

The character was supposed to frighten audiences.

But Jolie's transformation was apparently so convincing that it frightened some of the youngest people around the production before the cameras even started rolling.

With enormous black horns, sharply sculpted cheekbones, dramatic makeup, piercing eyes and a costume designed to evoke one of Disney's most recognizable villains, Jolie no longer looked like the actress her children knew at home.

She looked like Maleficent.

And for several young children who were supposed to work with her, that was a problem.

Jolie later explained that the three- and four-year-old performers who were considered for the role of young Aurora simply would not come near her while she was in full costume. The situation eventually led to an unusual casting solution.

The child who could comfortably approach Maleficent was Jolie's own young daughter, Vivienne Jolie-Pitt.

At the time, Vivienne was only five years old.

To other children, Jolie's horns, claws and imposing appearance were intimidating.

To Vivienne, she was still simply Mom.

That small distinction turned into one of the most memorable behind-the-scenes stories from the making of Maleficent.

Angelina Jolie Didn't Just Put on a Costume

The success of Maleficent's appearance depended heavily on transformation.

Disney's 2014 film was a live-action reimagining of the world surrounding Sleeping Beauty, but it presented Maleficent from a different perspective.

Instead of simply reproducing the villain from the classic animated movie, the filmmakers built a visually imposing version of the character around Jolie.

The horns were enormous.

The cheekbones were deliberately exaggerated.

The eyes were striking.

The makeup changed Jolie's familiar features into something much more otherworldly.

The costume and visual design were intended to make the character immediately recognizable while giving her a physical presence that could dominate a scene.

And apparently, the transformation worked a little too well for some of the children who encountered it.

Jolie later told Entertainment Weekly that the other young performers would not come near her when she was dressed as Maleficent. She explained that the child playing young Aurora needed to be someone who liked her and was not frightened by her horns, eyes and claws.

That child turned out to be Vivienne.

It was not originally Jolie's intention to turn her daughter into a child actor.

In fact, she said the opposite.

She and Brad Pitt did not want their children to grow up believing that acting was something they had to pursue.

But the circumstances on Maleficent were unusual.

And Vivienne happened to be the one little girl who could walk up to the frightening creature everyone else was avoiding.

The Other Children Were Actually Afraid

The story sounds exaggerated when repeated online, but Jolie herself described children being frightened by her appearance.

At Disney's D23 Expo in 2013, she recalled that young children visiting the set sometimes reacted strongly when they saw her as Maleficent.

According to UPI's report of Jolie's comments, one little boy even pleaded with his mother to make the “mean witch” stop talking to him. Jolie said she found herself feeling most comfortable working with Vivienne, who was playing a very young version of Aurora.

That reaction was understandable.

For adults, it was obvious that Jolie was an actress wearing prosthetics, makeup and a costume.

A preschool-aged child does not necessarily make that distinction immediately.

Children respond to what they see.

And what they saw was not Angelina Jolie.

They saw a tall, dark, horned figure with an intimidating face.

The transformation was doing exactly what the production wanted it to do.

It was creating Maleficent.

The problem was that young Aurora was supposed to interact with her.

Even Jolie's Own Children Were Startled

Perhaps the funniest part of the story is that Vivienne was not the only child in Jolie's family who had a strong reaction.

Jolie told Entertainment Weekly that her children initially reacted to her transformation by saying that Maleficent was scary.

Her son Pax had an especially dramatic response.

When he first saw Jolie in full costume, he ran away.

Jolie initially thought he was joking.

She followed him playfully, only to discover that he was actually crying.

She eventually had to remove pieces of her makeup in front of him to demonstrate that the frightening figure was still his mother underneath everything.

That detail makes Vivienne's casting even more amusing.

If one of Jolie's older children could be frightened enough to run away and cry, why wasn't Vivienne afraid?

The answer seems to have been familiarity.

Vivienne was especially attached to her mother.

Jolie later described her daughter as something of a “shadow,” explaining that Vivienne remained close to her even when Jolie was tired, grumpy or otherwise not in the mood.

That familiarity apparently survived even the horns and makeup.

“She Was Still Mommy”

Jolie explained that Vivienne could interact with Maleficent without being intimidated because she knew the person underneath the costume.

For the filmmakers, this was exactly what they needed.

Young Aurora's scenes required a child who could behave naturally around Maleficent.

If the young actress froze, cried or refused to approach Jolie, the scene would become difficult to film.

Vivienne had the opposite reaction.

She could look at Jolie's transformed face and still see her mother.

That allowed the production to capture the gentle relationship required for the scene.

Vanity Fair reported Jolie's explanation that Vivienne would still smile at her and want to be picked up even when Jolie was in character. According to Jolie, there was effectively no other child they could have used under those circumstances.

The irony was almost perfect.

Maleficent was one of Disney's most intimidating villains.

But the one child who wasn't afraid of her was the villain's own actress's daughter.

Vivienne Wasn't Supposed to Become an Actor

The casting decision also came with an important caveat.

Jolie and Pitt were not actively trying to launch their children into acting.

Jolie specifically emphasized that they enjoyed having their children visit sets and make occasional cameos, but that becoming actors was not their goal for the kids.

That is why Vivienne's appearance in Maleficent was unusual.

It was not simply a case of a famous actress giving her child a major role.

The production had a practical problem.

The young performers who were being considered were uncomfortable around Jolie's Maleficent appearance.

Vivienne was not.

And because the role required a very young child who could interact naturally with Jolie's character, the situation effectively solved itself.

ABC News reported the same explanation in March 2014, noting that the other three- and four-year-old performers would not approach Jolie in costume and that Vivienne was the one child comfortable enough around the character.

In that sense, Vivienne's casting was less about celebrity and more about an unusual production necessity.

Shiloh Was Considered First

There was another twist that makes the story even more interesting.

Vivienne was not actually Jolie's first choice among her children.

According to an interview Jolie gave to Elle, she initially asked her daughter Shiloh whether she wanted to play young Aurora.

Shiloh reportedly laughed at the suggestion and said she would rather play a horned creature.

She ultimately did not take the role.

Vivienne became the natural choice.

That decision proved fortunate for the production.

Shiloh did not want the part.

Other young performers were frightened by Jolie's appearance.

Vivienne, meanwhile, was perfectly comfortable.

The role therefore went to the child who was least affected by the terrifying transformation.

The Difference Between Angelina and Maleficent

There is something fascinating about the psychology of the situation.

The audience was supposed to see Maleficent.

The young actors were supposed to see Maleficent.

But Vivienne saw Angelina.

That difference allowed her to behave naturally.

To the rest of the world, Jolie's transformation represented a villain.

To Vivienne, it represented a familiar person wearing unusual makeup.

The horns did not change the relationship.

The cheekbones did not change the relationship.

The costume did not change the relationship.

And apparently, neither did the intimidating voice.

This is one of the reasons the story became so popular.

It turns the idea of a frightening movie villain upside down.

The character that could frighten children across a film set was completely harmless to one little girl because she knew who was underneath the costume.

Jolie Took the Character Seriously

The visual transformation was only one part of Jolie's preparation for Maleficent.

She also paid close attention to the character's voice.

Maleficent had already been famously voiced by Eleanor Audley in Disney's 1959 animated Sleeping Beauty. Jolie drew inspiration from that earlier performance when developing her own interpretation.

The goal was not simply to speak in a generic “evil” voice.

She wanted something theatrical and recognizable while still making the character her own.

Sources about the film's production note that Jolie based elements of her speech and accent on Audley's original Maleficent performance.