Ann-Margaret and a six-year-old Angelina Jolie in "Lookin' to Get Out," Warner Bros., 1982

How did this film become a family affair, with both Angelina and her mother Marcheline Bertrand in bit parts?

Since I was the co-producer and co-writer as well as the star, I had a little more say than I usually have. There's a little part with Marcheline [and me] in the beginning, and I wrote that scene for her. She was going to acting school and was very talented, and it was just a nice thing to put her in it. When it came to the child, I said, "Well, maybe my son Jamie will do it." He always had a nice way about himself in front of a camera, and still has it. But like I said, Hal thought, "Maybe it should be a girl. What about your daughter?" I said, "That's a good idea. Let's ask her if she'll do it," and Angie stepped up to the plate.

As Burt Young said last night [during the post-screening Q&A], initially when we were talking to her about this thing, she'd learned her lines, but she was distracted, looking up and down. But when the camera rolled, she was right on the money. It just gave some indication of what this kid had, although you can't tell that this person would become a visionary actress, somebody who had strong feelings and storytelling understandings, and she does. It was wonderful to have the family in the film.

Why hadn't you done more comedy in your career? You're quite a hoot in the film.

The lack of success of this film had kind of ended that possibility [laughs] It wasn't that my confidence was shaken. People didn't want to see me in comedy from the evidence of this film. But, as I say, it came out in a crippled version. Marty Scorsese saw this film on television in the original state and loved it. He saw all the value in it. Marty's got a good eye.

People were maybe not ready for me to do comedy, because I'd come off of "Coming Home," and they knew and like me from very serious pieces. Since then, of course, I've done all sorts of crazy characters, and now it's a different story. Now they know me to do almost any kind of genre, so my audience is more liberal in their enjoyment of my work. They enjoy the idea that I surprise them, instead of demanding I do one thing or another.

Some people say he's neglected. He wasn't neglected. At that time, Hal Ashby was the guy. I was a young actor looking for collaboration with great artists, and Hal was right at the top of the list. When I was cast in "Coming Home," I knew it was a great blessing for me. This was a dream come true to work with Hal Ashby because his sensitivity, his daring, his wry sense of irony and humor, his sense of playfulness -- there's nobody like him. He's so many things, and also, he's sexy. Maybe not physically, but there's something sexy about Hal Ashby, and there's something sexy about his movies. He's attractive. His sensitivity is attractive, his humor is attractive and his ballsiness; all his films have that Ashby edge. They go where angels fear to tread.

The greatest honor anyone could pay me from that time period was that Hal and I were great friends and collaborators. Every major actor in a piece has to have a strong relationship to the director, but the director's the man. So it's that dance that you're doing. You're checking with your corner man, your best friend, the guy who's going to take care of that piece. With Hal, I could go the distance. I'd make something in jest, and he'd say, "No, do that. Put it in. We'll go for it." When my life is gone, and they look back on my career, they're going to have to visit with Mr. Ashby to understand my work.

Changing subjects for one last question, I wanted to ask about your political op-ed piece in the Washington Times, which got people talking last summer. Do you still feel as strongly in your beliefs now that President Obama is in office?

Look, he's our president, and we're rooting for him to make a successful president. I have a real problem with the agendas of these so-called stimulus bills. I think it's almost criminal that [there's] such an extraordinary expenditure on favors, just a package full of pork that had nothing to do with stimulus, finally. They pushed this thing through with the president saying we have to pass this thing, a thousand pages of this stuff, and no one read it. Now, where was the resistance to such a crazy thing to have happened?

We don't know what our children are going to be affected by from this bill in the future. It's a mystery composed of people apparently led by Nancy Pelosi. What? With all of her agendas and the Democratic Party's wish list, that's going to stimulate the economy? And there's an attack on business? Guys, economy comes from small business. Look, Obama says he's going to take from the rich and give to the poor. Well, this is not Robin Hood. This "rich" that he's talking about are the average American families that've worked hard all their lives to become small entrepreneurs in various fields of endeavor. That's who they are. If you're asking them to pay taxes on top of the very large taxes they pay, you're going to bring down the economy, and that's what's going on now. I hope they come to their senses.

Hal Ashby's director's cut of "Lookin' to Get Out" will be released on DVD on June 30th.

[Additional photos: "Lookin' to Get Out," Warner Bros., 1982]

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