Angelina Jolie may be staging her comeback to the world of acting, with her acclaimed performance in 2024's Maria and her new premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival, Couture, but she's taking the time to remain a proud and attentive mother as well. The actress shares six kids with her ex-husband Brad Pitt, although some of them have reportedly become more estranged from their famous father. Still, the siblings are as close as ever, and their mom couldn't be prouder of all they've accomplished in recent years.
Speaking with Entertainment Tonight at the TIFF red carpet for Couture, the star, 50, noted that while sending a child off to college is hard, it's also extremely rewarding, as she did for her oldest Maddox Jolie-Pitt at Yonsei University in South Korea, and her daughter Zahara Marley Jolie at Spelman College in Atlanta, Georgia.
© Getty Images"It changes," she responded, speaking to the reporter's own experience of sending her daughter off to college a week prior. She comforted her by adding: "You know, the great thing is, she's going to return even more of a woman, even more of a mind, even more of a thinker. You're going to learn so much from this extraordinary person she's going to become."
Angelina then noted that Zahara, 20, just began her own senior year at Spelman, and she's soaking up the college experience "vicariously" through her oldest daughter. "My daughter's in her last year of university, and I just feel like I got to have the great gift of being able to learn from her and hear what she's doing and live vicariously. It's amazing!"
She further spoke about her kids on the red carpet with E! News, highlighting how each of her children, Maddox, 24, Pax, 21, Zahara, Shiloh, 19, and twins Knox & Vivienne, 17, have their own sense of style and individuality in the Jolie household. "My house is very, 'To each their own.' We're very democratic. Everybody does their own thing."
© Getty Images"As long as you're being you, we're good," the mom-of-six added. "If you're dressing up to try to impress somebody else or be like somebody else, we would probably just call you out. But if you're you, be you!" From Zahara's Spelman tenure and Vivienne acting as an assistant producer for The Outsiders on Broadway, to Maddox and Pax assisting with her directorial ventures and Shiloh's pursuits in dance, each of her kids has embraced the spotlight in different ways.
© Getty ImagesSpeaking with Vogue, Angelina noted the importance she placed on being a mother. “I was 26 when I became a mother. My entire life changed. Having children saved me – and taught me to be in this world differently. I think, recently, I would've gone under in a much darker way had I not wanted to live for them."
© Getty Images"They're better than me, because you want your children to be," she continued. "Of course I'm the mother, and hopefully that safe place for them and that stability. But I'm also the one that they laugh at – and I see them taking over so many different aspects of our family."
