Angelina Channels "Gia"

Fri., Sep. 16, 2005 9:15 AM PDT by Sarah Hall

Angelina Jolie got her big break playing supermodel Gia Carangi in the HBO biopic Gia. Now she's ready to try her hand at the real thing.

The Mr. and Mrs. Smith star, possessor of perhaps the most enviable physical attributes in Hollywood, will serve as the new face of luxury apparel purveyor St. John, the label announced Thursday.

Jolie, 30, will also head up the company's new charity branch, formed in support of children's issues and causes.

The actress, who serves as a United Nations goodwill ambassador, is the mother of 4-year-old Maddox, whom she adopted from Cambodia in 2002, and 7-month-old Zahara, whom she adopted from Ethiopia in July.

"Angelina Jolie embodies so many qualities of what St. John represents. She is strong, independent and dynamic. She's a mother, actress and a philanthropist," Richard Cohen, CEO of St. John, said in a statement.

The Jolie-fueled campaign is set to debut in spring 2006 publications and will be shot by photographer Mario Testino. The ad campaign will reportedly draw creative inspiration from the company's native California and will seek to "evoke a mood synonymous with effortless, Hollywood glamor."

For her part, Jolie waxed enthusiastic about her latest endeavor.

"I am a working mother who has set goals to accomplish a lot in this world. I want my wardrobe to be beautiful, sexy and comfortable--all at the same time. St. John is all of those things," Jolie said in a statement. "St. John has always been worn by strong and independent women who truly appreciate the quality that St. John offers. I am happy to be a part of that tradition and more importantly part of taking that tradition into the future."

Apart from modeling, Jolie has a hefty production slate ahead.

She's currently shooting the based-on-a-true-story CIA thriller The Good Shepherd opposite Matt Damon and Robert De Niro. The film is slated for release in December 2006.

Still ahead, the actress will voice the Queen of Darkness in Robert Zemeckis' adaptation of Beowulf.

In between shoots, Jolie has been managing to find the time to shuttle herself and kids off to spend time with her (unconfirmed) boyfriend, Brad Pitt.

Last month, the foursome took in a dinosaur exhibit in Royal Tyrrell Museum in Drumheller, Alberta, close to the Canadian set of Pitt's latest film, The Assassination of Jesse James.

In his spare time, the leading man has apparently been moonlighting as babysitter to the Jolie kids. Recent photographs showed him clasping Maddox by the hand and holding Zahara, with a baby bottle crammed into his back pocket, while Jolie was nowhere in sight.

Pitt's divorce from Jennifer Aniston becomes official Oct. 2.