Looking stunning in a strapless black dress, Angelina Jolie has made her first public appearance since giving birth to twins, revealing the abduction theme of her latest film scared her.

Jolie, with partner Brad Pitt by her side, walked the red carpet at the New York premiere of her new film, Changeling, at the weekend.

The film, directed by Clint Eastwood, is set in 1920s Los Angeles and follows the story of a mother whose young son is kidnapped.

Jolie told reporters the theme forced her to contemplate a parent's worst nightmare.

"Your worst fear is anything happening to your kids - (it was) the reason I didn't want to do the film for a long time," she said.

"Every day I came home, and I was clinging to my kids. I was grabbing them. And checking them in the night. It scares me."

Jolie was sporting two new tattoos on her upper arm - denoting the map coordinates of the birthplace of her twins, a boy and girl named Knox and Vivienne in Nice, France in July.

Her other tattoos show the latitude and longitudes of her other children Maddox, Zahara, Shiloh and Pax Thien, in Cambodia, Ethiopia, Namibia and Vietnam.

Jolie told reporters it "felt a little strange" being back in the limelight and revealed she was feeling sleep deprived.

But she said it was an exciting time for her family.

"The babies are getting big and healthy and developing personalities," she said.

Eastwood praised Jolie, describing her as "an actress hampered by her gorgeous face, I think the most beautiful face on the planet".

"People sometimes can't see past that, to her talent. She's on all these magazine covers, so it's easy to overlook what an amazing actress is underneath," he said.

Eastwood compared Jolie to Meryl Streep.

"Actors know, with me they aren't going to be allowed to rehearse a scene for a couple of hours and then get away with doing 25 takes before we get it right. So they come with their full bag of tricks," Eastwood said.

"Angelina is a lot like Meryl Streep in that respect."