Angelina Jolie’s older brother James Haven made extremely rare remarks about his relationship with the Oscar-winning actress in a new interview this week.
The 52-year-old actor appeared on an episode of the 90who10 podcast in which he delved into how he had focused on caring for Angelina’s children in the wake of her split and years-long divorce from Brad Pitt.
James — who was most recently pictured in public with his father Jon Voight in October 2022 — admitted that he saw it as his duty to ‘protect’ his sister’s six children amid the tumultuous divorce and the resulting negative publicity for the sparring exes.
The conversation turned to James’ connection to Angelina in recent years and questions about how he had responded to the very public split.
‘That’s where it all started, it started with the protection of her and then of her children, my nieces and nephews,’ James said via Too Fab, indicating that he and his sister began a new phase of their relationship after her split.
Angelina Jolie’s brother James Haven made extremely rare remarks about his relationship with his sister during an appearance this week on the 90who10 podcast; seen in 2017 in LA
James, 52, spoke about ‘protecting’ his 48-year-old sister’s six children in the wake of her messy split from Brad Pitt; seen in 2000 in LA
‘There are those are massively formative years, they’re becoming young adults in their early 20s,’ he continued, referencing her children.
The Changeling actress shares Maddox, 22; Pax, 20; Zahara, 18; Shiloh, 17; and twins Knox and Vivienne, 15, with her ex Brad.
‘That’s so crazy thinking that, but yeah, I think it’s just very natural [to feel protective] and I just want to be there,’ James continued. ‘Very much like my mom. Anytime I’m blessed to be in their presence, I want to be in their presence.’
He attributed that feeling to a lesson he learned from his late mother Marcheline Bertrand.
‘[It’s] a quality I got from my mom, even though cell phones were not as prevalent as they are now, but back to that idea of her always being like, “You are the focus,”‘ he shared. ‘I set my life up so I can be present with whatever the situation. The formative years, the young adults they’re going to become, I want to be there for them — or for her — whatever she’s going through.’
Although James has had small parts on film and television throughout the years, it was his connecting to his younger sister that first increased his public profile.
He often accompanied her on the awards season trail leading up to her Oscar win for Beset Supporting Actress for 1999’s Girl, Interrupted.
But the two were beset by rumors inspired by their overly close bond and their public affections, including their habit of kissing on the mouth on the red carpet.
Angelina and James stirred up controversy back in 2000, when they shared a kiss on the lips just after she won her Oscar.
While accepting her award, Jolie confessed, ‘I’m in shock, and I’m so in love with my brother right now.
‘He just held me and said he loved me, and I know he’s so happy for me. And, um, thank you for that.’
‘That’s where it all started, it started with the protection of her and then of her children, my nieces and nephews,’ James said, indicating that he and his sister began a new phase of their relationship after her split
The Changeling actress shares Maddox, 22; Pax, 20 (not pictured); Zahara, 18; Shiloh, 17; and twins Knox and Vivienne, 15, with her ex Brad; seen in 2021 in London
James and Angelina stirred up controversy in 2000 when they kissed on the lips multiple times during awards season, including when they kissed just after she won her Oscar for Girl, Interrupted; seen in 2000
James later said the event was ‘misconstrued’ amid the breathless coverage of it.
Angelina also tried to brush off criticism of their public displays, calling the kisses just an example of ‘brotherly love.’
They two later attributed the stress of having their mother in the hospital around the time of the awards season campaign on the provocative displays.
Bertrand had been diagnosed with ovarian cancer in 1999, and despite her initial hospitalization, she live several more years with the disease.
The actress died in 2007 at the age of 56.
James seemed happy to speak about his connection to his sister, although he mostly spoke in vague terms.
However, he indicated that they two hoped to collaborate on some kind of projects in the future, though it wasn’t clear if they were film projects or something else.
‘We have very mutual interests, especially if it’s focuses on how to help kids or stuff like that,’ James explained. ‘And I know there’s going to be many things in the future that we’ll probably be working on, which we’ve never done publicly, like together, but I think there’s many things in the future that I think we’ll do together.’
James had a steady string of small film and television roles beginning in the late 1990s, though many of them were in films starring his sister or second husband Billy Bob Thornton, whom she was married to from 2000 to 2003.
He has mostly stayed out of the public eye in recent years, and his last on-screen role was in Easy Silence, a short film from 2013.
His sister Angelina has continued to have a varied career as an actor and occasional director, while also working as a human rights activist and a Special Envoy for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).
However, she recently expressed dissatisfaction with the film industry and shared her desire to move away from Los Angeles in an interview with WSJ. Magazine.
‘Of all the places in the world, Hollywood is not a healthy place,’ she said at the time.
Both James and Angelina have had a tempestuous relationship with their father, Jon Voight, including several years in which they were estranged from him.
Speaking to Daily Mail in 2007, James claimed that his father had been stingy with money for his family when he and Angelina were being raised by their mother Marcheline Bertrand, who died of cancer in 2007
‘One of the saddest things in my life happened when I was 16, which is when you can get your permit to drive in LA,’ James said. ‘I did not have a car in high school and neither did Angelina.
‘Try to imagine. You go to Beverly Hills High, one of the wealthiest high schools in the nation. Even the cheapest car that anyone has is brand new. All my friends are well off. I have a movie-star father and no car,’ he shared.
James said he hoped to collaborate on unspecified projects with his sister. ‘We have very mutual interests, especially if it’s focuses on how to help kids or stuff like that,’ he explained; seen in 2017
‘I know there’s going to be many things in the future that we’ll probably be working on, which we’ve never done publicly, like together, but I think there’s many things in the future that I think we’ll do together,’ he said; seen in 2019 in Hollywood
‘It was debilitating. I did not to go to the prom because I felt uncomfortable that Dad would have to drive me. It’s an embarrassing thing.’
James and Angelina appeared to remain close to each other through the years, even as they remained estranged from their father until their mother’s 2007 death and James’ subsequent conversion to born-again Christianity led to a reconciliation.
James went on to reportedly serve as a full-time nanny to Angelina’s children, but their relationship seems to have soured sometime after her divorce from Brad Pitt, when he was dismissed.
No explanation for the growing apart has been shared.
