What are Angelina Jolie’s 6 kids up to? Here’s what she’s said about them
Jolie has called her kids, whom she shares with ex-husband Brad Pitt, “pretty great people.”
Angelina Jolie with children Knox Leon Jolie-Pitt, Vivienne Marcheline Jolie-Pitt, Pax Thien Jolie-Pitt, Shiloh Nouvel Jolie-Pitt, Zahara Marley Jolie-Pitt and Maddox Chivan Jolie-Pitt attend “The Boy Who Harnessed The Wind” screening in 2019.Monica Schipper / Getty Images for Netflix
By Ree Hines and Rosie Colosi
Angelina Jolie is an Academy Award-winning actor, an accomplished filmmaker and a passionate humanitarian who serves as a UN special envoy for refugees.
And yet there’s another prominent role in her life: mother.
In a splashy profile in Vogue, Jolie reflected on her role as a mother. “My entire life changed,” she said. “Having children saved me — and taught me to be in this world differently.
“I would’ve gone under in a much darker way had I not wanted to live for them,” she added.
Jolie has had a unique path to motherhood.
She adopted her first child, Maddox, from Cambodia in 2002, and then she adopted Zahara from an Ethiopian orphanage in2005. She gave birth to her first biological child, Shiloh, in 2006. Then Jolie adopted Pax (who is actually her second-oldest child), and she gave birth to twins Knox and Vivienne in 2008.
The 47-year-old has six children, all of whom she shares with her ex-husband, Brad Pitt.
Pitt and Jolie were together for 12 years and split in 2016. Jolie and Pitt’s divorce was finalized in 2019, and Pitt was awarded joint and legal custody of their five minor children in 2021. A legal battle over a winery the two once shared is ongoing.
Now, Jolie is starting a new fashion venture and her children are very much part of the team, adding their own unique perspectives to Atelier Jolie.
“I would’ve gone under in a much darker way had I not wanted to live for them,” she said.
Angelina Jolie poses on the cover of Vogue’s October issue.Annie Leibovitz / Vogue
On its bare-bones website, Atelier Jolie features a note written by its founder: “I am building a place for creative people to collaborate with a skilled and diverse family of expert tailors, pattern makers and artisans from around the world. A place to have fun. To create your own designs with freedom. To discover yourself,” she wrote.
Jolie has certainly encouraged her children to discover themselves as they grow. “I don’t tell the kids how to dress. Even when they were little, I just put things in front of them,” she told Vogue.
In the feature, she described a pivotal family moment of self-expression to illustrate her point. For a 2021 red carpet premiere of her Marvel movie, “Eternals,” five of the Jolie-Pitt children dug through their mother’s closet and selected their own outfits. Shiloh chose a Gabriela Hearst dress, Zahara picked Elie Saab and Knox selected vintage gear.
“I don’t think any one of us is overly ‘fashionable,’ but because we live in our clothes, it is so much a part of who we are, and something that’s important to explore, especially for young people,” Jolie said in the interview.
Angelina Jolie is joined by Shiloh, Zahara, Vivienne, Maddox and Knox for the “The Eternals” UK premiere on October 27, 2021 in London, England.Karwai Tang / WireImage
Jolie seemed to eagerly anticipate the next phase of motherhood as her children come into their own. She said, “I see them taking over so many different aspects of our family.”
Zahara and Pax have been “heavily involved” in Atelier Jolie — in fact, it was Zahara who found the retail space — and Pax has been helping his mom shop for a New York City apartment.
But who are the Jolie-Pitt kids? And what are they up to these days?
Read on to learn more about the “Eternals” star’s big, beloved family.
Maddox Chivan Jolie-Pitt, 21
Maddox Jolie-Pitt in 2019Jun Sato / WireImage
Maddox was the first child to come into Jolie’s life. In 2002, she adopted him as an infant from his birth country, Cambodia, where she also filmed “Lara Croft: Tomb Raider.”
At the time, Jolie was still married to Billy Bob Thornton, though months later, she and the “Sling Blade” actor parted ways.
At the age of 4, Maddox was adopted by Jolie’s then-partner Pitt.
The eldest of the Jolie-Pitt kids turned 21 in August and studies biochemistry at Yonsei University in Seoul, South Korea.
“I’m so happy for him that (Maddox has) grown up into such a good man,” Jolie told Entertainment Tonight shortly after he went off to school. “I say that ‘cause he’s smart and he’s doing his work, but he’s also wild.”In 2017, Jolie directed the film “First They Killed My Father,” based on a memoir about the Cambodian genocide. At the premiere in Cambodia, Jolie spoke to the role the country had in her life. “Without Cambodia I may never have become a mother. Part of my heart is and will always be in this country. And part of this country is always with me: Maddox,” she said with her children in attendance, per People.
Zahara Marley Jolie-Pitt, 18
But they weren’t apart for long. By October, Jolie and Zahara were spotted together at Spelman homecoming. “Angelina Jolie just casually walking around with her daughter at Spelman during Homecoming,” one woman wrote on Twitter.
Shiloh Nouvel Jolie-Pitt, 17
Shiloh Jolie-Pitt attends the “The Eternals” premiere on Oct. 27, 2021 in London.Karwai Tang / WireImage
Born in 2006, in the African nation of Namibia, Shiloh was the first of the three biological children Jolie and Pitt welcomed together during their relationship.
At just 16 years old, Shiloh, who was spotted attending a rock concert with her mother in 2022, has already gained a degree of fame of her own — as a dancer.
In June 2022, Hamilton Evans Choreography shared a clip of the teen showing off a variety of hip-hop dance moves to Doja Cat’s “Vegas.”
Shiloh Jolie-Pitt shows off her moves in a still from her Hamilton Evans Choreography clip.Hamilton Evans / YouTube
Pax Thien Jolie-Pitt, 19
Pax Thien Jolie-Pitt in 2021JC Olivera / Getty Images
While he was the fourth child to enter Jolie life, Pax is actually the second-oldest in the family.
Born in 2003, in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, Pax was adopted by Jolie in 2007 when he was three. He was adopted by Pitt in 2008, per People.
Knox Léon Jolie-Pitt, 15
Knox Jolie-Pitt in 2019 Jeff Spicer / Getty Images
Born in Nice, France, in 2008, along with twin Vivienne, Knox is another of the biological children Jolie and Pitt share, and he’s the youngest of their sons.
Along with Pax, Zahara and Shiloh, Knox had small voice roles in Jolie’s 2016 animated film “Kung Fu Panda 3.”
But Knox isn’t breaking into showbiz, according to his famous mom.
“They don’t want to be actors,” Jolie told Entertainment Tonight shortly after the film’s release. “But I didn’t want them to miss the opportunity.”
Vivienne Marcheline Jolie-Pitt, 15
Vivienne Jolie-Pitt in 2021 Dave Benett / WireImage
Vivienne was also born in Nice, France, in 2008 alongside Knox.
At least for now, details of the 15-year-old’s life remains largely private.
Jolie said of all of her children in 2021, “They’re pretty great people.”