Los Angeles, Feb 7 (IANS): Hollywood star Angelina Jolie has talked about a life-changing movie that led her to call Cambodia home and how she almost turned it down.

The 49-year-old star was asked where she considers home to be during a conversation about her life and career at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival, where she received the Maltin Modern Master Award, reports people.com.

“In my heart, Cambodia. My first trip was Tomb Raider, where you saw me hanging upside down (in the clip),” said Jolie.

She then opened up about how life would’ve looked very different for her if she didn’t say yes to certain opportunities, including the 2001 blockbuster “Tomb Raider” that was inspired by the video game of the same name.

“I learned something about life. I think about my life and the amount of things I almost didn't do, almost missed, that would've changed the course of my life. I said no to Tomb Raider when I was first called.”

When asked why she ultimately agreed to play Lara Croft in the film, Jolie said that the adventures she was promised to go on swayed her decision.

“They said, ‘You can travel the world and train with the British military.’ And I said, ‘I will wear the shorts for the first five minutes and then I'll never wear them again.’ And that's true. And that's the movie. That's actually what happened.”

While Tomb Raider may have brought her there, the Oscar winner formed a deep connection with the Southeast Asian country by adopting her first child, Maddox, a year after the film was released.

Maddox told people.com in 2017 that he helped out on the film whenever he could, whether it was pitching in on meetings, prepping for shoots and helping to review dailies.

The drama, directed by Jolie, is based on her friend Loung Ung’s memoir about surviving the Khmer Rouge genocide in Cambodia.

Along with Maddox, Jolie shares Pax, 21, Zahara, 20, Shiloh, 18, and twins Knox Léon and Vivienne Marcheline, 16, with ex-husband and Hollywood star Brad Pitt.