With so many magazine covers focused on her personal life, it can be easy to forget that Angelina Jolie is one of the most accomplished actresses in Hollywood. Not only has Jolie been repeatedly nominated for some of the industry’s top acting awards, she is also one of its most bankable stars.

All this is impressive enough, but Jolie has used her success to bring attention to humanitarian disasters and need throughout the world. She has served as a UN Goodwill Ambassador for a decade, traveling to war-torn areas and refugee camps. To call attention to the the suffering she has seen, she has written articles, books, and filmed documentary and public service announcements. She has also lobbied on human rights issues in Washington D.C. and spoken at international conferences. She has founded several charitable organizations and publicly donated to many causes.
Jolie’s latest project could be seen as a melding of both her achievements in the craft of acting as well as her devotion to humanitarian work. Jolie’s directorial debut, In The Land of Blood and Honey, takes place during the Bosnian War. Jolie wrote the script and has said that she chose the subject matter as a way of bringing attention back to the region and the survivors of the war.
With women directing only 6% of films made, Angelina Jolie is a success simply by breaking into the ranks of directors. And by finding yet another way to use her influence to bring to light stories often overlooked, she has proven that one can’t accurately be judged by a (magazine) cover.