Angelina Jolie’s most memorable costar in Alexander was not Colin Farrell nor Val Kilmer

Angelina Jolie acted as Alexander’s mother Olympias and her most memorable costar in Alexander was not Colin Farrell nor Val Kilmer. In fact, it was the snake she held in her hands and slither around her shoulders. She has a snake most of the scene.

About Jolie's views about the snake, she said, “I love ‘em. I suppose I like the thing that everybody doesn’t. I think they’re magnificent creatures, and I think it’s interesting in the film. It’s something that people are afraid of, to conquer it and to be at one with it. I believe in conquering our fears immediately or getting over anything you hesitate with.”

There was no snake repellant or standby antidotes for any accidental bites. “They weren’t defanged or anything. They fed them the day before so they wouldn’t be hungry. I mean, really, that’s what it was. And I just tried to get to know a lot of them and spend days with them so they’d hang on me. I’d spend a lot of days just walking around Pinewood studios with snakes attached to me, trying to get them, so I could have that comfort that she has. [The snake handlers] kind of said to me, ‘At worst, they bite you.’ But I don't think they were highly poisonous. It would be more like they bite, they aim for your face, they bite your face and the worst that’s going to happen is you’re going to have a bite mark and you’ll live.”