Angelina Jolie: I'm just a punk kid with tattoos

Actress Angelina Jolie speaks at a meeting about education for Iraqi children held by the Council on Foreign Affairs in Washington April 8, 2008.

Nov. 4 -- She's a cover fixture on newsstands across the world, but despite the praise for her style, beauty and activism, Angelina Jolie still identifies herself as being an outsider.

"I am still, at heart – and always will be – just a punk kid with tattoos," she told the December issue of Britain's Harper's Bazaar, as excerpted by the UK's Metro newspaper.

Though her moves across the years — and her romances — have attracted a host of headlines, the mother of six said she has no need to defend her past.

"I don't walk around feeling I need to apologize or explain myself," she told the magazine.

Angelina is featured on the cover of Harper's Bazaar UK edition, out on Thursday, under the headline "Angelina Up Close."

In the interview, to promote her new film, "Changeling," Angelina said she has chosen her acting parts, thus far, based on whether she’d want to come face to face with the character in real life.

"I tell stories that are about the type of woman I'd want to meet. The type of woman where I think, even if it's silly characters I’ve played, like in Tomb Raider, there’s something about her that will be fun for my daughters to see one day," she said.

And while characters like Lara Croft wield knives and swords, Angelina said she and partner Brad Pitt explain the difference between the big screen and real life to their brood.

"My kids play video games. I let them play with toy soldiers. We don’t take war and violence lightly, but we don’t hide it from anybody," she said. "We say, 'Mommy and daddy have movies where we play these characters, but there's real death and violence in the world.'"

(Agencies)