Before their split in 2017, Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie were better known as Brangelina
and they wandered around the world with a fleet of children. In other words, they were
the coolest parents ever. The Jolie-Pitt kids range from 9-16, hail
from all around the world (interesting fact: none of them were born in the USA!), and were
raised in their parents' Château in France, a place in Los Angeles, a home in New Orleans,
a penthouse in New York city, and on-set. So basically, they are extremely cool. Time
to get to know them better!
16-year-old Maddox is Angelina's first child,
and was adopted from an orphanage in Cambodia in 2002 when he was seven months old. Angie
was originally planning to adopt Maddox with her then-husband Billy Bob Thornton, but ended
up adopting him alone thanks to their split. Brad Pitt then adopted Maddox in 2006, after
he and Angie met. Angelina started Cambodia's Maddox Jolie-Pitt
Foundation in 2003 (focusing on environmental conservation, education, health, and infrastructure),
and the family even owns a home there. That same year, Angelina said, "Maddox was the
first baby I ever held. He's really made me a woman."
Maddox might be just a wee teen, but he already has a production assistant credit on his parents'
joint film By the Sea, not to mention an executive producer credit for working on his mom's film
First They Killed My Father—about the Khmer Rouge genocide in his home country of Cambodia.
"I was trying to help wherever I could," Maddox said. "[She’s] fun, funny, and easy to work
with. She’s a wonder." Maddox also had a cameo in Brad Pitt's World
War Z, and his character died a gruesome death. "He gets shot in the head . . . multiple times.
But he gets double tapped," Brad said. "I don't know what that says about me as a parent."
It's been reported that Brad Pitt's incident on an airplane in 2016 involved Maddox.
Angelia adopted 13-year-old Zahara from Ethiopia
when she was six-months-old, and Brad Pitt was right by her side—eventually adopting
her when he adopted Maddox. And lovely fact: Zahara's name is Arabic for "luminous," and
her middle name is "Marley" after Bob Marley. Zahara's personal backstory is complicated,
as Angelina initially believed that she'd been orphaned from parents who had AIDS. "There
was a fear that she had HIV," the actress said.
Zahara is regularly seen on red carpets with Angelina Jolie, and is known for her great
taste in fashion. She's also inherited her mother's passion for helping others—in January
2018, she accompanied Angie (and her sister Shiloh) on a trip to visit a Syrian refugee
camp in Jordan. When it comes to acting, Zahara had a small
voice part in Kung Fu Panda 3 and has an uncredited role in Maleficent.
12-year-old Shiloh Jolie-Pitt (meaning "the
peaceful one") was born on May 27, 2006—and Brangelina flew to Namibia for her birth,
which ended up being by cesarean due to Shiloh being breech.
"[Brad] was in the operating room, yeah. Yeah," Angelina said. "I just wanted to hear her
cry. And I was sure everything would go wrong. The last minute I became the mother that was
sure everything was going to go wrong." Brangelina famously sold the first photos
of Shiloh in order to give money to charity, and over $7 million in proceeds ended up being
donated to UNICEF. In 2010, Angelina chatted candidly about her
daughter, saying "Shiloh, we feel, has Montenegro style. It's how people dress there. She likes
tracksuits, she likes [regular] suits. She likes to dress like a boy. She wants to be
a boy. So we had to cut her hair. She likes to wear boys' everything. She thinks she's
one of the brothers." Shiloh was also featured in Kung Fu Panda
3 (we're sensing a trend), got "bored" and passed on Maleficent, and had a cameo in The
Curious Case of Benjamin Button. She recently made headlines for breaking her arm during
a family vacation. And in other news, Angie and Shiloh traveled back to Namibia in 2017
to open the Shiloh Wildlife Sanctuary.
14-year-old Pax was adopted from Vietnam in
2007 when he was three. Despite the fact that Brad and Angie were very much together during
the time of his adoption, Angie filed the paperwork herself due to laws that prevented
unmarried couples to adopt in Vietnam. Brad adopted Pax in 2008.
Like his brother Maddox, Pax worked as part of the production on First They Killed My
Father, and was even a set photographer. In adorable news, he was his mom's date to the
2018 Golden Globe Awards, and wore a #TimesUp pin on the red carpet.
Tabloids claim Pax wants to be an actor like his parents (he was also in Maleficent and
Kung Fu Panda 3), but Angelina said, "None of my kids want to be actors. They are actually
very interested in being musicians. I think they like the process of film from the outside.
Mad is interested in editing. Pax loves music and deejaying."
Angelina took Pax back to Vietnam in 2011 to learn about his cultural background. "We
owe Vietnam a visit, because Pax is due," Angie said before the trip. "They are all
learning about each other’s cultures as well as being proud of their own. They all
have their flags over their beds and their individual pride."
And finally, the twins! Vivienne and Knox
are nine (they were born in France in July 2008), and if you thought Shiloh's photos
were expensive you ain't seen nothing yet. Photos of these cuties were sold to People
and Hello! for a reported $14 million, with proceeds going to the Jolie-Pitt Foundation.
Knox's middle name Léon is the middle name of Brad's grandfather, while Vivienne's middle
name Marcheline is the name of Angelina's mother. Angie described Vivienne as a "girly
girl," saying "She is so elegant and delicate. Vivi will pick flowers from the garden and
put them in her hair," while her brother is a burgeoning bro who "loves dinosaurs and
swords." Vivienne had a staring role in Maleficent.