Angelina Jolie in The Exchange Courtesy of Universal International

What did you draw on to play this role?
AJ: Certainly so much of it is a mother and imagining, "If this were happening to me, [what would be] my pain and my frustration?" But I did have to find something else because, as I said, I couldn't respond the way of course I would respond today. It is personal but it is true. I lost my mother a few months before [we started shooting] the film. And to me, [Christine] was very much like my mother... very passive in many ways and very, very sweet, but when it came to her children, she was a lion. But as a woman [she was] very shy with her own voice. So in many ways Christine reminded me of my mom, and it was a way to revisit my mother after [her passing] and spend time with her. So it was very nice, in that way — very healing.

Does the film have resonance for today?
CE: It was my intent to create a story that was indicative of that particular time... However, history can repeat itself, and who knows? Since that time in 1928, [there] were changes going on in the Los Angeles police structure — sometimes good and sometimes bad. But anyway, as I mentioned earlier, there have been a lot of different regimes [in the LAPD] that have come along, and this particular one was particularly corrupt. This woman, through her tenacious attitude, brought down the whole police department and the whole political structure. The mayor was not re-elected and so it was one person's voice. And even though she was considered a minority, especially in that particular period of time, she just kept going. After she was wrongly put into a psychiatric ward, she just continued on flat out. It's a great study on human characteristics. This one mother fighting against the whole city.

AJ: Obviously the film deals with the LAPD, but we can all look at this — and there are examples globally — and see issues where peoples' rights are oppressed or people are fighting against corrupt governments or police. We see that every time we turn on the news. It is symbolic of many things happening today. It is a very real fact.

Clint Eastwood and Angelina Jolie at the Cannes photocall for The Exchange Photo by Matt Carr

CE: Even today, a lot of things would get dismissed if people were lackadaisical or complacent about corruption going on around them. There has to be a voice. In this case, it was the voice of a woman and a Presbyterian minister together that started off the chain reaction to bring down the city. But it could happen today. And it has happened in recent years. Every once in a while somebody steps up and says, "I am mad as hell, and I don't want to take it any more."

Do you have a problem with authority figures or do you just like questioning authority?
CE: I like questioning it. Naturally, you always pick stories because of their dramatic value, and conflict is the source of drama. And so, stories like this that have a lot of conflict are very interesting to me. You wouldn't want to tell a story where everything just works perfectly. There would be no reason to tell it.

What was it like being directed by Clint Eastwood?
AJ: Amazing. I was like anybody in this room would be. I was nervous the first day. [To Eastwood: "Close your ears because I am going to embarrass you."] But he is really just a great leader, an all-round leader. Not just because as a director, he is decisive... and dedicated to getting the story out, but every single member of the crew, he respects and gives them his time. Every single person feels valued, and you can't ask for more. I had never seen a director command so much respect. Not because he is Clint Eastwood, but because he is so gracious and thoughtful and connected to every single person. It was a pleasure. And I am sure every single person on the crew would say the same.