Magnificent Maleficent(3)

US actress Angelina Jolie promotes her latest film "Maleficent" in Shanghai on June 3, 2014. Cao Zichen / For China Daily

Despite rumors last year that she was considering adopting a Chinese baby, Jolie ruled this out but not the possibility of extending her family in the future.

She says she is interested in cultural cross-collaboration and working with Chinese stars or directors in the future.

"One of the things I've been doing here is asking a lot about Chinese writers and directors and artists. I hope somebody in China will reach out to me, and give me a chance."

Nowadays Jolie is more closely associated with her philanthropic work in Africa and for the UN than her stormy past, which included a period of drug experimentation and marriages to Johnny Lee Miller and Billy Bob Thornton.

She feels much more settled as a mother fast-approaching 40.

"There's a fire inside all of us. We all have a fighter. And it's just about figuring out what to fight for … and stop fighting against yourself."