From Cambodia to college, Maddox Jolie-Pitt is on his way to a pretty bright future.
This is his journey.
Until the early 2000s, Angelina Jolie never saw motherhood in the cards for her, but a
visit to Cambodia played a big part in changing her perspective.
During a visit to Cambodia as a United Nations goodwill ambassador, she had an epiphany,
telling the Associated Press,
Jolie first saw Maddox at an orphanage in Battambang, Cambodia, telling The Hollywood Reporter,
Prior to her visit to Battambang, she decided that she would only visit one orphanage.
After meeting with all the children and not connecting with them, she was told there was
one more child left.
And that was when she finally saw him.
"They put him in my arms, and he stayed asleep.
And then he opened his eyes, and he smiled, and I cried, and felt like this kid is okay
being in my arms."
Maddox Jolie-Pitt's name went through a couple of changes.
His birth name, Rath Vibol , was later changed to Maddox Chivan Thornton upon his adoption
in 2002, during Jolie's marriage to Billy Bob Thornton.
Shortly after his adoption, however, they ended their marriage, and Thornton was removed
from his legal name.
In 2006, the year Jolie and Pitt’s first biological child Shiloh Jolie-Pitt was born,
Brad Pitt legally adopted Maddox and his sister Zahara telling Esquire,
With this move came a name change to Maddox Jolie-Pitt.
In a 2007 interview with MSN, Jolie raved about her close relationship with her son,
then age 6, saying,
Angelina admitted that Maddox even jokingly called his mom by her first name, revealing,
At the time, they even shared a fondness for knives.
For Jolie, it's something that runs in the family.
Jolie told W Magazine that she bought her first daggers with her mother at 11 or 12.
For safe measure, she only got her son knives with dulled blades, and with this shared interest
came discussions on violence and ancient warriors.
She continued,
In 2016, 14-year-old Maddox and his father, Brad Pitt, reportedly got into an altercation
in front of the whole family on a plane, but the actual events that transpired remain uncertain.
However, it was still enough for Jolie to file for a divorce.
She shared with The Guardian,
In an ongoing legal battle for their previously co-owned winery Chateau Miraval, Jolie detailed
what she described as Pitt's abusive behavior towards her and their children.
According to the countersuit from Jolie, Pitt allegedly choked one child and struck the
other in the face.
Five days after the incident, the divorce papers cited irreconcilable differences, beginning
a high-profile custody battle.
For the most part, Jolie and Pitt have agreed to keep the legal proceedings as civil as
possible for the sake of their children.
In 2017, Maddox Jolie-Pitt executive produced the Netflix film "First They Killed My Father"
directed by his mother.
Pax, his younger brother, served as the movie's set photographer.
The film is based on the best-selling memoir of Loung Ung, a Cambodian human-rights activist,
author, and close friend of Jolie.
It follows the story of a child that survived the Khmer Rouge genocide in Cambodia.
Tackling this story also offered Maddox a one-of-a-kind experience to learn about his
nation's history, culture, and people.
He definitely didn't play a passive role in this process.
Angelina shared more about her son's work ethic, telling ET,
"He's very studious, much more than I am [...] when we did our notes in the production meetings,
his notes were always better than mine."
This experience was a testament to not only an excellent mother-and-son relationship but
a productive working relationship.
Maddox told People that his mother was "fun, funny, and easy to work with."
Maddox Jolie-Pitt's mother was shocked to find that he was taking up Russian and German
and was already fluent in French — all at the age of 16.
His mother also told The Hollywood Reporter that he also speaks a little Khmer.
Maddox, along with the rest of his siblings, was homeschooled, and their roster of teachers
came from different cultural backgrounds and spoke multiple languages, according to Vogue.
In an interview with Vanity Fair, Jolie shared praise for her son.
Cambodia holds a special place for Maddox Pitt-Jolie, and what he loves most about his
home country is the people.
Angelina told Vogue,
Maddox recalled to People,
Before working on the Netflix title "First They Killed My Father," Maddox had already
returned to Cambodia a couple of times.
Working on set, however, took this understanding of the country a step further.
He even made friends with the children on set, and they had their own sleepovers.
The whole Jolie-Pitt clan joined during filming.
While Maddox and Pax were working on set, the rest of the siblings were on the sidelines,
immersed in the experience in their own way, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Bringing the whole family was Angelina's way of sharing the culture of each sibling with
the others.
She explained to Vanity Fair,
In 2019, Maddox began his biochemistry degree at Yonsei University, a prestigious institution
in South Korea, regarded as one of the top three universities in the country.
Angelina was there to help him settle into his dorm and accompanied him on a tour of
the grounds.
Bittersweet as it may be for her to send off her eldest son, she's still looked forward
to this chapter of his life.
In an interview with Entertainment Tonight, Jolie shared,
"I'm so proud of him.
I'm so excited; I feel like my world expands as their world expands ... I love this stage."
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Maddox Jolie-Pitt cut his university experience short.
After a semester at school, he packed his bags to temporarily move back home, according
to People.
Due to the lockdown, all six children were back together.
Since the Jolie-Pitts' were already close as it is, it wasn't much of an adjustment
having their big brother back.
Aside from catching up with the family and getting free haircuts from his mom, he also
used this time away from campus to catch up on his Korean and Russian lessons, People
reported.
In August of 2022, Maddox celebrated his 21st birthday with his family, reports ET, before
helping his sister Zahara move to Spelman College in Atlanta.