Angelina and Brad, Hollywood, CA 2004. The first time I shot with Angelina was really special. She had this wonderful public persona and a crazy history of being a wild child, a solo mom, and a really strong independent woman. So I’m on set with her, and her little adopted son comes in the room to see his mom—it was so cute. I took some beautiful pictures of the two of them, and it was a rare experience—most celebrities keep their kids off-limits. I sent her the pictures, and we were in touch for a time. Then bam, I get hired to shoot the movie poster for “Mr. and Mrs. Smith”, and she’s there with Brad.From the moment they stepped on set, the chemistry was undeniable. It was clear that there was this heat between them, and you could feel the power of their celebrity at the moment…but what I hadn’t expected was that Brad really just wanted to talk to me about motorcycles, my dear friend Indian Larry, and the book I had just released on Larry‘s life. He’s firing off questions, we’re really connecting—so much so that when Angelina comes out of the dressing room and standing there, waiting, she’s like “Hello! Can we get to work and focus on this shoot?” And then we did, but it was quite funny how this important shoot with these two amazing people turned into something so unexpected.I walked into a situation thinking oh my God, I’m with Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt, the stars of the moment, thinking it’s all about them. And just like that, it became all about Larry and the bikes. It was like wait, how did my life take a spin like this? How did I end up in the alternate universe? The pieces of my life keep linking together.
