In her extraordinary career, Angelina Jolie has been a sharp-shooting assassin (Wanted), a vengeful fairy (Maleficent), a grief-stricken mother (The Changeling), a video-game adventuress (Lara Croft) and a tragic supermodel (Gia). However, it’s her role as Master Tigress, the cold, cool, super-smart kung fu mistress co-star of the hugely popular Kung Fu Panda series which has resonated like no other for the Golden Globe-winning actress. “The idea of mixing kung fu with a panda is already just a brilliant and fun one,” she says from California’s DreamWorks campus, “and I think it has beautiful themes that people care about.”

Since helping to bring Tigress to life more than seven years ago in the original Kung Fu Panda movie, Jolie has successfully parlayed her profile as one of America’s leading actresses into a career as a producer and, more recently, director and writer. Now she returns to breathe life into the animated Tigress. In Kung Fu Panda 3, Tigress and the rest of the Furious Five watch as Po (Jack Black) is unexpectedly reunited with his biological father, Li (Bryan Cranston), and together they enter a magical secret panda paradise. 

Over to Tigress aka Jolie.

After all these years, what do you like about Tigress, and which of her qualities do you have?

I think she can take things too seriously — I think I have that problem. I can want to be in battle all the time and take things very seriously and forget to have a laugh. It’s good for me to be around Jack (Black), just like it’s also good for Tigress to be around Po. It’s nice to be with somebody that’s so full of life and humour and music. In that way, we’re similar. And she’s kind of private; even though I’m a very public person, I’m quite private. I was very happy that I got to be her.

What do your kids think of her, and do they have a favourite character?

How can they not love Po?! Though I’ve never actually asked them (sons Maddox, Pax and Knox and daughters Zahara, Shiloh and Vivienne) if they have a favourite. They’re all different ages, so probably some will like the baby pandas and some will like Seth Rogan (who voices Master Mantis) because they’ve seen his movies, and some will like Jackie Chan (Master Monkey)... but everybody loves Po! 

In Kung Fu Panda 2 we saw a softer side to Tigress. Does that continue?

She doesn’t have a big arc in this one, but that’s part of who she is — she doesn’t change very much... she is consistent. When she softens, it’s just a small amount. We do see a little bit more of her friendship with Po, but she still has moments she wants to kill him because he still drives her crazy.

What happens to her over the course of this film?

Through the course of the movie she’s fighting — her whole life is fighting and protecting. She goes through a period where she thinks she’s lost everyone, and like in any good story, you have that moment where you feel that all hope is lost.

Is there much opportunity in the vocal booth to improvise?

I’m not funny, but I play around a little bit. With Jack you get into it and learn how to do it a little bit. I can improvise as an actor, but it’s very different improvising in a real moment in a real scene as a person than just staring at a mic and only using your voice to tell funny stories. It’s a different kind of art — Jack’s better at it.

How does that influence your performance?

The strange thing is, even when we’re not together — because we know each other so well, and know the characters so well — we can imagine how the other would be. But it just made it more fun, more playful, enjoying the process together, being a bit goofy. I think we got a little silly, and maybe a few lines or moments came out of it.

Where did the voice for Tigress originally come from?

What’s strange is I thought that when you did voice acting you were supposed to make a voice, and I came in my first time and started to make every strange voice under the sun. Then they explained to me that that’s not necessary, so it’s my voice, just in the deepest tone. It stays lower, stays strong, because she’s so absolute — she never gets flighty, or curious. She’s me right down the centre. 

She’s very calm....

She does have that thing that I do not have. She’s very Zen, very absolute. I’m absolute, but I’m not Zen. Sometimes you play a character and it’s not adding things to yourself, it’s more just stripping all the other elements of you away, and then you’re left with that one part of yourself that relates. So you take away this and that, and that one side of me that likes to fight and is a bit stubborn... that’s Tigress.

For you, are there any frustrations or advantages to removing your physical self from the process?

I love it! I’ve heard some people don’t, but I think it’s the greatest thing. Maybe if that’s all you did you’d feel restricted and feel like you also had other things to share, but for me you get stripped of so many things and you are just using your voice. So as an artiste you think differently about how you approach and how you communicate with just one part of your instrument and just one thing. And you can come to work in your pyjamas — just throw yourself together, it’s fine, nobody cares. 

Do you think Tigress looks like you at all?

I don’t think so. I think she was created before I was even there, but she has developed my mannerisms, which is really fun. I think she has a way of standing and a way that’s very upright. She has her hands on her hips probably more than I would care to notice. It would be scary if I started to analyse it, how much they have adapted her to me.

Has playing her changed your fan base at all?

I was once in a hospital and a little girl had a Tigress doll, and I was able to go over to her and start talking to her. I think it just confused her, to be honest! ‘Why are you mimicking my doll?’ In my house, with my kids, it’s something I can share with them. I can’t share all my films with my kids and they’ve jumped in on this one to be little pandas.

How was that for them? And you?!

It was fun. I told them they didn’t have to and that it would just be a few lines for fun, and they’re not interested in being actors, but they enjoy the movies. We’ll be in this little, crazy world together, and it’s a really fun world. If you can share it with your kids, it’s so cool.

Is this their first time in a movie?

Oh, yes! And I didn’t know how they were going to do. I didn’t know if they were going to get quiet or nervous, but they all did it really, really well and then I said, ‘Are you ok?’ and they said, ‘Acting’s easy!’ Now I’m going to hear about that the rest of my life. ‘It’s easy, Mom. Why are you always so tired?’

You think they might have caught the acting bug?

May be for voiceovers — they were very happy there were no cameras on them. I think they would have gotten really shy. But just the idea that you’re going to do a voice and become a panda... how can you say no?!

What makes a good animated movie?

I think what makes a good animated film is just making a good film, making a film that’s about 
something that will resonate with kids and has great characters. Same thing that makes any film great. I think great animation studios know that and they don’t rest on the fact that they’ve got a cute little panda. They know they really have to focus on story. To shoot a scene in a regular film, you rehearse it, write it, you turn the cameras on and you’re pretty much done. With animation, they have to build the worlds and the plates and draw each gesture... it’s a big, big process. 

Is there an animated movie in your future as a director?

I don’t think I’d be very good at it. I’m fascinated by watching the process — I’m producing one right now called Breadwinner, and learning about the process, but I think I have learned a lot about directing from Kung Fu Panda.
When I first started directing I was really shy and didn’t understand storyboards and I wanted to be free with the actors, but since working in animation and directing now, I’m much more interested in the storyboards and how to really define your visuals and understand the visual language.

Kung Fu Panda 3 releases on Friday