Angelina Jolie may be a celebrated Oscar-winning actor, a tireless human rights advocate, and a global style icon, but her most cherished role is being a mom

“It’s my happiness,” Jolie said. “You can take everything else away from me. Nothing else matters.”  

Jolie is a proud mother of six children: Maddox (23), Pax (20), Zahara (19), Shiloh (18), and twins Knox and Vivienne (16), all of whom she shares with her ex-husband Brad Pitt. 

While her career continues to thrive, she says that her kids will always be her main priority.  

Jolie’s passion for her family and work intersected recently during the production of Maria, Pablo Larraín’s biopic about opera legend Maria Callas. 

Jolie, who portrays the late prima donna, revealed that her two eldest sons, Maddox and Pax, worked behind the scenes on the project. 

Their involvement made the experience even more meaningful for her.

“It was amazing having them there,” she said, although she said that none of her children aspire to careers in the spotlight. 

“None of my children want to be in front of the camera at this time. They’re quite private. Shiloh, especially, is extremely private. They weren’t born with privacy, so I hope they can have that as they grow.”  

To prepare for the demanding role, Jolie underwent rigorous vocal training to embody Callas’s signature operatic style. 

“All of my children suffered through my early opera singing in the house before I got kinda good,” she joked. “It was a nightmare at first.”  

Jolie has always been open about her parenting philosophy. 

In a 2019 interview with Harper’s Bazaar, she spoke on the importance of helping her children to discover and embrace their true selves.  

“Knowing our true self is a very important question for all of us, especially a child,” she said at the time. 

“I think kids need to be able to say, ‘Here’s who I am, and what I believe.’”  

While Jolie acknowledges that she can’t shield her children from life’s inevitable hardships, she always looks to guide them through challenges with resilience. 

“We can’t prevent them from experiencing pain, heartache, physical pain, and loss. But we can teach them to live better through it,” she shared.  

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