Angelina Jolie made the trek to Anaheim on Saturday to promote "Maleficent" at Disney's D23 Expo, saying she might not have gotten the part if not for some heads-up thinking by her brother.
Taking the stage to a huge cheer, Jolie said she had always had a fascination with the iconic villainess.
"She had this elegance and this grace, and yet she was so cruel — just wonderfully deliciously cruel," she said.
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Jolie said it was her brother who talked her into trying out when the project was announced: "I got a call from my brother … he said, 'You've got to try to get in on this!'"
She said being in costume and makeup for the film made for some awkward encounters with children who knew exactly who she was.
"I even heard one kid say 'Mommy please tell the mean witch to stop talking to me,'" Jolie said.
Studio president Sean Bailey then introduced a first look at a clip from the film, showing Jolie in full getup as the wicked queen at the moment she curses Sleeping Beauty as a baby.