Angelina Jolie has revealed that her 'rainbow family' nearly didn’t happen because she feared that she wouldn’t make a good parent.

The A Mighty Heart actress admits that it wasn’t until she held adopted Cambodian son Maddox in 2002 that she realised she was up to the challenge of motherhood.

She says: "They put him (Maddox) in my arms and I stared at him and I started crying and he smiled.

"I hadn't held children before in my life. I was always considered so dark and I thought maybe I shouldn't be someone's mom because I'm not so sure about myself - am I going to be the best mom?

"The fact that this little kid seemed so at ease gave me the courage to feel I could make him happy and so we became a family."

Angie has two other adopted children with her partner Brad Pitt - Pax, three, from Vietnam; and Zahara, two, from Ethiopia - as well as biological daughter, 19-month-old Shiloh.

Her parenting-style has recently been called into question after she labelled Shiloh the “outcast” of the family.