Laura Croft: Virtual Vixen
Long before raiding Jennifer Aniston‘s happy home, Angelina Jolie captured the heart of geeks across the country when she took on the role of Lara Croft in the film Lara Croft: Tomb Raider. Even before Jolie gave the wildly popular action-adventure game’s female protagonist an official face on the big screen, Lara Croft was already highly revered as arguably the world’s most famous and socially acceptable virtual sex symbol. Croft’s official back story describes her as a born aristocrat of London origin, having attended Scottish boarding school followed by a foray into Switzerland for higher education. A life changing plane crash in the Himalayas, in which Croft was separated from her family, she shunned her traditional upbringing. An experienced mercenary, big game hunter and master thief, Croft combines academic aptitude with a taste for adventure to create a powerful lead. Though she was originally concepted to be sexy on a purely persona driven level, Croft’s virtually voluptuous captured the attention of gamers, taking video game crushes out of the dark and into mainstream lighting.When Jolie finally filled out Croft’s patented sleeveless bodysuit, thigh hugging brown shorts, high rising boots and long white socks, Tomb Raider fan’s obsession with Lara Croft only grew. It was only fitting after all, that an A-list Hollywood celebrity (not to mention one who’s repeatedly graced a hot of “hottest woman alive” lists) with a penchant for breaking traditional female stereotypes and flair for wild behavior take on the challenging role as an athletic archaeologist with a knack for finding trouble. While Jolie does not share her character’s privileged upbringing, she was able to bring a sense of adversity and family hardship to the role, similar to that of the fictional Croft. While Croft was separated from her family, Jolie dealt with feeling of abandonment from her father, actor Jon Voight, from a young age. Jolie learned martial arts and adopted for the film and was widely praised for her role despite mixed reviews of the movie. The actress would go on to use her new found action star status to captivate audiences and win the hearts of sci-fi and graphic novel geeks for years to come in films such as Beowulf and Wanted.