Angelina Jolie has insisted that her daughter Vivienne Jolie-Pitt was the only practical choice to play the young Princess Aurora in Maleficent.

Speaking to Entertainment Weekly, Ange claimed that other youngsters had been in contention for the role in the Sleeping Beauty update - but had been scared by her sinister costume for the movie.

"The other three and four-year-olds wouldn't come near me. It had to be a child that liked me and wasn't afraid of my horns and my eyes and my claws. So it had to be Viv."

And she explained that the motivation for telling the story from the viewpoint of the villain was intended to allow the film to explore different themes to most children's movies.

"The exercise wasn't 'how can we have fun with a villain?' It was 'what turns people evil and vile and aggressive and cruel? What could have possibly happened to her?'

"It is really funny when people say you'd be obvious for a great villain."

And she reckons it has paid off, because her daughter Shiloh has already been defending the character.

"The next day, I heard Shiloh getting into a fight with another kid, defending Maleficent, saying, 'You don't understand her!'"

The movie is set for release on 30 May.