NEW YORK, NY (June 21, 2007) — Angelina Jolie talked about her continued efforts as a humanitarian and activist, and discovering her first adopted child, in a candid interview with Anderson Cooper on CNN last night.

Jolie’s dedication to humanitarian efforts has been staggering. She has campaigned for relief in the troubled regions of Cambodia, Darfur, Sri Lanka and many others; personally visiting the poverty-stricken locales and refugee camps. It was in Cambodia that she discovered a toddler, Maddox, who would become her first adopted child.

“I fell in love with the people of Cambodia,” she told Cooper, “and I was sitting with a little kid playing blocks and feeling like my son was somewhere there. And he was.” Along with Maddox, Jolie has adopted two other children — Zahara from Ethiopia, and Pax from Vietnam — with her partner, Brad Pitt. They also have one biological child, Shiloh, between them.

Angelina’s ‘Mighty Heart’ Premiere In NYC

Angelina’s journey to becoming a Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) was sparked by the horrible conditions she witnessed while filming “Tomb Raider” in Cambodia. In 2001, she contacted the UNHCR and went on her first field visit, an 18-day mission to Sierra Leone and Tanzania. She was shocked by what she witnessed.

As she recounted the experience to Cooper, she said she felt it was her responsibility to educate, “and never again be confronted with a situation like that and think, ‘my God, how did I not know this was happening?’”

Jolie spoke to Cooper about the horrors and poverty facing the world’s refugees, whom she described as “some of the smartest, most resilient people in the world.”

She said that she was worried about the “millions of vulnerable people that have no access to a decent quality of life, who are going to be brought into terrorist groups because that’s their only option.”

When Cooper asked if the seeing the displaced families in the refugee camps inspired her to adopt, Jolie replied, “It might be part of the reason my kids are from some of those countries, and were on their own. . . I feel very close to children or people around the world … and when I met my kids, they were, to me, extraordinary — and felt just like family. And that’s how I feel about the world and other people’s kids.”

And while Angelina doesn’t specifically claim to be a better mother, or woman, or partner because of her humanitarian work (”I’m not a ‘wife,’” she reminded Cooper), she said she has been affected by her experiences in a broader way:

“It’s just made me a better person. Since starting this work, [there's] never been one morning where I’ve woken up and wished for more in my life . . . I’m so fortunate . . . I remember all the people I’ve met that have been through 100 times more pain than I will ever know in my life.”

With four children to raise already, could Angelina and Brad possibly want to adopt more? “We fluctuate between like seven and twelve,” she mused.

“We’re always thinking about [adopting others],” she said. “We’re just making sure that everybody has enough time…it can take a full day making sure everybody has special attention.”

With a big family and two hugely successful careers between Angelina and Brad, it all comes down to teamwork.

“I only work sporadically now,” she explained, “and when I do [work], Brad’s a great Dad, so we take turns as parents.”

Jolie can be seen this weekend in “A Mighty Heart,” which features her critically acclaimed portrayal of Mariane Pearl, the widow of slain Wall Street Journalist Daniel Pearl, who was kidnapped and murdered in Pakistan in 2002.

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