Gia Carangi (L); Angelina Jolie inGia(1998).Photo: Laurie Sagalyn/WWD/Penske Media via Getty; Eric Liebowitz/Citadel Ent/Kobal/Shutterstock
It’s been 25 years sinceAngelina Joliestarred as Gia Carangi inGia.
Mila Kunisalso appeared inGiaas a younger version of Carangi, in one of her first-ever film roles, while additional cast members includedFaye Dunaway,Mercedes Ruehl,Elizabeth MitchellandScott Cohen.
Read on to learn more about Carangi, from her early life to her tragic death.
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Gia Carangi.Andrea Blanch/Getty
Carangi was born Gia Marie Carangi in Philadelphia on Jan. 29, 1960, into a working-class family that included two older brothers. Her father Joseph Carangi, who was Italian, owned a restaurant, while her mother, Kathleen Carangi (née Adams), was a homemaker.
But throughout her catapult to fame, Carangi — who wasone of the first openly gay models,Dazedreported — struggled with addiction and substance abuse, including of cocaine and heroin.
Back in 2020, makeup artistSandy Linterrecalled toThe Hollywood Reporterthat she and Carangi had a romance in the late 1970s that “was never a torrid sexual affairbut we did love each other.”
“I was just as shocked as anybody that she became an addict,” Linter said. “She thought she was stronger than the drugs. One morning, as she was getting dressed to leave my apartment she asked, ‘What happened to my natural energy?’ She didn’t have the energy to get dressed at 20 years old. The drugs took everything.”
Gia Carangi.Dustin Pittman/WWD/Penske Media via Getty
According toDazed, Carangi attempted several times to get clean, including going to rehab, but it never stuck. She was diagnosed with AIDS in December 1985, and died of related complications the following November.
Linter toldTHRthat the last time she saw Carangi was in 1983 or 1984, when the model rang her doorbell, then “sat down on my couch with me, put her head on my shoulder and cried.”
“It was the end of our ‘romance.’ I knew it and she knew it. Because she looked so good, I had been tricked into thinking that she was on the road to recovery,” Linter said. “I never knew she had AIDS until later. After maybe 30 minutes, she looked out the window, nodded to someone in the street and left. I would never see her again.”
Ahead of the movie’s release, Jolie, now 47, toldThe New York Timesin 1997 that she initially “hated” Carangi while doing research about her, based on a20/20interview the model once did — but eventually changed her tune and thought, “I’d like to date Gia. I’d want to be her lover.''
Angelina Jolie (center) inGia(1998).Larry Watson/Citadel Ent/Kobal/Shutterstock
The actress also toldEntertainment Weeklyat the time of her role that she “definitely needed to learn the lessons Gia needed to learn.”
“Especially feeling that the physical is more important than anything else, or that you’re only as smart and good as somebody thinks you are,” she said. “It’sbeen really important for meto look at myself in the mirror, and realize that I can’t let myself go down like she did.”
Jolie — who went on to win anOscarfor her performances in the following year’sGirl, InterruptedalongsideWinona Ryder— also said she wanted the audience “to identify with Gia and see her as being just a regular girl.”
“No matter how together or perfect some people may appear, they have their share of pain and a deep-down need for love — the same as everyone else,” the actress added.
source: people.com
