While I don’t doubt that every one of her children changed Angelina Jolie’s life, Maddox was her first and he still represents the biggest, most life-altering change of course. For years, it was just Angelina and Maddox, and then there was Brad. Then Zahara, then Shiloh, then Pax and then the twins. I sometimes wonder if Maddox has been Angelina’s “rock” this entire time. It was Maddox who allegedly got in between Brad and Angelina on the private plane last year. Whatever went down on that plane, it happened between Maddox and Brad. Angelina made a choice that day, and her choice was to protect Maddox and leave Brad. Allegedly, Maddox still hasn’t made his peace with Brad either – Madd is 16 years old now and no therapist can convince him or order him to spend time with Brad. So Maddox has also made his choice: he’s Team Jolie, OG-style.
Anyway, Maddox had a real position on First They Killed My Father. Angelina made him executive producer on the film, and she put him to work as some kind of catch-all, part producer, part editor, part PA. Maddox is also participating in the promotion for the film, and he granted an interview to People Magazine as part of Angelina’s cover story.
At just 16, Maddox Jolie-Pitt has an executive producer credit under his belt after working alongside his mother Angelina Jolie on the upcoming drama First They Killed My Father. Maddox tells PEOPLE exclusively in the magazine’s new cover story with Jolie that he pitched in on meetings, prepped for shoots and helped review dailies on the drama Jolie directed for Netflix (out Friday), based on her friend Loung Ung’s memoir about surviving the Khmer Rouge genocide in Cambodia. Maddox’s brother Pax, 13, was also part of the production and served as a set photographer.
“I was trying to help wherever I could,” says Maddox, the oldest of Jolie’s six children.
And what did he think about working with his mom?
“[She’s] fun, funny, and easy to work with,” he says. “She’s a wonder.”
Asked what he loves most about Cambodia, Maddox says, “the people by far. [They are] calm, relaxed, and when they want to do something wild, they do it — much like me in a way. I’m proud to be a Cambodian.”
In addition to his foray into filmmaking, Maddox has been taking flying lessons and speaks multiple languages, Angelina Jolie reveals.
“He’s quite capable and always takes me by surprise,” she says proudly. “He’s been practicing flying, then they called me the other day and said, ‘So Mad can go solo,’ and I nearly dropped the phone! He’s been taking French and Russian and all these different languages. I hear him talking in full, fluent French, and they’ll tell me he’s reached a certain level in his German, and I have no idea. He doesn’t do it in front of me.”
Maddox is fluent in French and he’s working on German? Bonjour and guttentag, Maddox! When the kids were much smaller, I used to dream about their future jobs, but I didn’t think it would be like this. I didn’t think Maddox would end up a nepotism-producer, but hey, at least he’s more interested in that kind of stuff than in, like, modeling and Instagramming? And if Angelina is into getting her kids some jobs through nepotism, can Pax PLEASE get a modeling contract? This kid’s bone structure is otherworldly. You know what else shocks me? That Zahara hasn’t already organized everything in this family. Please – Zahara has always been the one in charge.
Photos courtesy of WENN.
That line sounds like it was fed to him from an ear piece.
Because – of course – he can’t just love his mother. *rolls eyes*
Shiloh also said ‘We love mom’ . But of course witch Jolie forces her!
We don’t know if he does or doesn’t love his mother. But the line sounds like it was fed him. The words that we use and how we use them matter.
He would not have been fed that comment. It came from him. I think these two have a special bond and he adores his mother.
“We don’t know if he does or doesn’t love his mother. ”
Come on @Susie. It’s a pretty safe assumption to believe he loves his mother. Most people love their mothers. Even awful mothers are loved by their kids. (Having said that, I do not believe Angie is an awful mom).
Wow. A 16 year old doesn’t have the ability to be articulate and say nice things about a parent?
more like wow a 16 year old boy publicly proclaiming how great his mom is? How often do you hear that from a teenage boy? Most of them will say my mom is annoying!
Exactly. How often do you hear that from a teenage boy praising his mum in public or to the press. How very elaborate he is. Not only does he love mum but she is a wonder and more. PR guys hard at work making the kids learn their pr text.
I thought what he said was sweet. I am going to give him the benefit of the doubt and assume he is a good kid who loves and respects his mom.
He’s homeschooled. That sort of comment is much more common among homeschooled children.
My 15 year old niece is still a mama’s girl who adores her and climbs in bed with her every chance she gets. No chance she would balk at praising her mom in public.
He has been put in the position of defending his mother, even against a violent father. No child should be put in that position. He feels protective of her and that he needs to defend her. And I will never believe that the incident on the plane was the first time Brad got violent. That he did it in front of others signals that he was comfortable acting that way. The difference this time is that when they got off the plane, someone else reported them to child protective services, so suddenly Momma Bear shows up. AJ had no choice. This is so obvious, she had to dump him to keep or they may have taken the kids out of the home.
I think AJ enabled Brad and tolerated things she shouldn’t have tolerated in the hopes of keeping the family together. I understand that, but don’t agree with it.
Do you have kids? Because you can’t force teenagers to say anything.
This!
Of course you can, with the right incentive…if you say this or don’t say that, you’ll get that thing you wanted, whatever it might be – iphone, playstation or maybe concert tickets.
I’m not saying that this is the case here, they’re rich so he probably already has everything he could want. Just that you could definitely make someone say something
D–this is how it would come out: “Yes, I love my mother” (sullen, between clenched teeth).
@minx Not necessarily, teenagers can lie convincingly ( I could when I was that age). Or for example another situation, when you read an article about a teenager who was depressed and did something to hurt themselves, you’ll often see comments from family and friends saying “But he/she seemed so happy and said that everything was great!”. My point is that even teenagers can lie so that everyone believes it to be true, they could say “Yes, I love my mother” with a big smile, but on the inside thinking something like “Meh…this is so stupid”
Ha ha for sure. My teenage son also adores me and, while quite independent and has moments of rolling his eyes at me, would also say something like this.
I’m certain he loves his mother to bits, and she him. Of course those are his words.
Exactly. I’m certain he feels very protective and proud of her after all they have been through. And to suggest that he isn’t capable of expressing his thoughts in a mature way at 16 is balderdash.
BALLS !!!!!
hahahaha [love your comment]
ye…i had a lot of friends who would talk like that about their mothers when they were adolescents…and no, I don’t think you could really force an adolescent to say something like that if he wouldn’t want to. He also worked in his mother’s film. If he would be such a anti, who couldn’t stand his mom, he wouldn’t really do that. Plus that sentence is pretty standard, isn’t it?
hahahahaha!! This one hasn’t been interjected for a while!!!
Man, I’ve missed the BALLS!!
He just loves his mom. How does that have to be fed to him? He’s a bit more mature than most 16-year-olds I’ve known, but why wouldn’t he be? My son probably wouldn’t have said that at 16, but he’s said some of the kindest things about me now at 22. I find it strange that you would consider that suspicious.
I did laugh at her saying he doesn’t do it in front of me. LOL my kid is the same way. I’d hear from others that he was great at math (his teacher would e-mail me), I have to specifically ask about his grades at college and he would never play guitar in front of me but friends would tell me he’s pretty darn good. I’m liking her more and more, tbh.
I’m sure Maddox has had to grow up a lot in the last year, if he sounds older than 16, that could be the reason. He’s been tested and has the IQ of a “genius”, both Brad and Angie have talked about this before.
As for getting between Brad and Angie during an argument, that is not unusual, most teenage boys are very protective of their Mother, just look at Pax and Maddox, both look at Angie like she hung the moon. Girls tend to think that about their father.
As for Zahara, she seems like an angel, like the sweetest young lady, but boy do I still remember those side eye looks she could give the paps. I’m sure Zahara is her Mother’s helper, she’s always had one of the twins by the hand when they were younger, so sweet.
Angie is looking so beautiful, even after this terrible year. The whole family, (minus the missing father) look very happy and healthy. I wish them nothing but the best, Brad, too.
There is no “genius” IQ. That’s been out of fashion for at least forty years. To be accorded that designation you have to do something outstanding in a long-term historical context–besides joining MENSA and being insufferable.
Some people to whom one can unequivocally attach that appellation:
Marie Curie, Leonardo da Vinci, Albert Einstein, Carl Sagan, Miles Davis, Charlie Parker, Alexander Hamilton, Martin Luther King, Jr., Alan Turing, Guglielmo Marconi
By contrast, politicians such as Al Gore, Bill Clinton, and Ted Cruz, are considered scary smart by all who’ve worked with them, but history is unlikely to rate them. Mere high intelligence is qualitatively different than the ineffable attribute of genius.
And I’d like to nominate: Hedy Lamarr, David Bowie, Prince
A teenage boy loves his mom. The same kid that stood up to his father in order to protect his mother on a plane. Go figure. I know MANY stories of men who while they were young would stand up to their fathers to protect their mother, especially if they thought their mother needed protecting.
And yet you still think it’s… staged.
I come from a large family and can tell you that every single son in my family treats their mother with great love and respect. And, yes, would kick anyone’s ass or step up to protect their Mom. And their behavior is not staged.
@trh
Some people just do not want to believe brad Pitt’s own words so they make up delusional scenarios about the Jolie-Pitt family.
Brad tore his family apart, he admitted it, he said it, and there’s no doubt it was his fault.
Angie should be given credit for keeping quiet about Brad, of course she never said anything too bad about BBT, except that he didn’t want to be a father to Maddox.
I’m sure Angie will never say anything negative about Brad, after all he’s the father of her children.
It’s sad that the haters are filled with such hate and rage they actually think the kids hate Angelina and she has bribe her kids to say something nice. It’s extremely disturbing.
@Louise177:
Angie’s success is killing the haters.
I would hope he patches things up with Brad…I never think a parent should be erased from a child’s life unless something really extreme happened.
I agree. I would take a teenage’s view of their parents with a grain of salt unless they are screaming abuse.
My parents are great people, when my sister was 16-17 she hated them and tells everyone including her therapist how awful they are just because my parents believed that 16 year old girls shouldn’t be out at midnight on school nights.
It seems that Maddox can not patch up things with Pitt and I too think that he should. Pitt is his father and it is better in most cases to have 2 adult parents in your life. Currently Maddox just has one parent in his life and this parent takes a particular stance against the other parent. Poor Maddox. In 10 or 20 years time he will understand how much he lost when he “lost” his father Pitt.
There didn’t happen much at all as Pitt wasn’t charged with anything. Believe me, if Pitt had done anything there would be a lot of witnesses who would tell the authorities (nannies, personal assistants, security: remember that security guy who gave that interview on the Jolie-Pitt family). But the authorities did inquire and ask all these people and they didn’t find anything to use against Pitt.
And apparently Jolie doesn’t help Maddox to make his peace with Pitt who isn’t just Maddox’ father but also his siblings’ father. Imagine the family dynamics and machinations when the oldest child hates the father of them all.
No blame at all for Pitt? Like, none? She strikes me as someone who wants happy well-adjusted children, how do you know she ‘apparently doesn’t help Maddox to make his peace?’ How could you know that? Does she call a family meeting every night and tell the kids to say what mean thing they remember daddy doing? I see her more as working with the therapist for the kid’s sakes. As for Pitt not being in his life isn’t that more of the same old, same old? He was gone then, he’s gone now.
He is a 16 year old. Old enough to be emancipated by a court of law. Old enough to hold a valid driver’s license. Old enough to decide how he feels about his father right now- he was there. We were not.
“In 10 or 20 years time he will understand how much he lost when he “lost” his father Pitt.”
You don’t know that. Why would you assume that?
We don’t really know anything about what happened between father and son. It does seem as though there were problems for quite a while, most likely due to Brad’s difficulties with alcohol and maybe other drugs. I can speak from personal experience on that – seeing your parent drunk rapidly makes some kids lose any desire to hang around with the person. Can’t have a serious conversation with them, can’t believe a word they say, and it’s very uncomfortable feeling like you have to be the adult in the room when you’re only 14. So if you don’t have to be with them, you might decide not to. I actually decided to stop seeing dear old dad at that age because he wasn’t worth the pain in the gut every time his drunk self appeared. Have never regretted that decision, just wish I could have made it earlier. It was so liberating.
Parents often don’t realize how their intoxicated behavior affects their kids’ relationship with them. Younger children may not have such a problem, but you become more aware as you enter your teens. Especially if the drunk has not actually been a real parent (as was the situation in my case), teens are more likely to give up on you.
The incident on the plane may have simply been a last-straw kind of thing for Maddox, bringing to a head a problem that had been incubating. The move toward separation and then divorce just gave him a good opportunity to stay away from Brad since they weren’t living in the same house any more.
Brad will simply have to wait until Maddox feels ready to deal with him properly, probably after he is full grown though. Brad may have blown it with this one. It’s sad, and I don’t think Brad is as irredeemable as my loser father was and Brad does have a real-parent history as a base, so they will very likely eventually be able to have an adult relationship. Brad will most likely miss out on the remaining teen years, though.
This is not Angelina’s fault. Maddox is old enough that if he wanted a relationship with his father, he would have it. I don’t see any sign that his mother is trying to block any of the kids from a relationship with their father. The younger ones see him regularly. But if they don’t want to see him, she just doesn’t force it – which is a good thing.
Planet Earth:
I disagree. Yes Brad was not charged with anything, but that doesn’t mean he didn’t use emotionally abusive language or passive aggression. It is very unhealthy to have a relationship with a toxic family member. Regardless if it’s the father or mother or sister or brother. All psychologists and therapists recommend disconnecting from a toxic family member and not engaging / promoting their toxic behavior. We don’t know what happened. None of us were there. Anything anyone said is heresay. Yes we are all free to opinions but who are you to say oh he should try to maintain a relationship with his father. No, he shouldn’t. He has he right to never speak to his father again if his father was showing any toxic behavior. That is a healthy step for a person to do.
Me too. all 16 year olds clashes with one parent or the other. AJ needs to mediate not make it worst.
Really? There are reasons to think that Brad was physically abusive to Maddox, Maddox’s mother, or both. Not sure that’s a relationship I’d urge a child to patch up. If Maddox’s instincts are to stay away from someone who has seriously hurt him, perhaps those are instincts that outsiders should respect.
I’ve seen no evidence before or since in Pitt’s lengthy public professional and private life that he has ever been accused of abusive behavior or uncontrollable anger. While this particular end-of-marriage period was difficult and a family blow-out occurred because of Brad, I’m not at all convinced that this couldn’t have been handled much, much better.
1000000% this. He’s old enough to form an opinion that should be heard and taken into consideration.
IMO, the plane incident was Brad drunk and yelling at Angelina. Maddox stepped in and got shoved by Brad. So what’s Angelina to do? A.) “I’m sorry he did this to you, Maddox. He didn’t mean it. He gets angry when he drinks. Please go talk to him.” or B.) “GTFO, Brad. Getting physical is a line in the sand, and I’m on the side with Maddox.”
Obviously WE don’t know what happened on the plane, but they do. It was enough for an immediate divorce filing and no reconciliation from Maddox.
100% this. It’s not up to us or anyone else to tell him to forgive his father. It’s Maddox’s call and his alone.
Yes, let’s put it on the child to fix his relationship with his possibly abusive alcoholic dad.
ikr?
So much of this.
Nevermind. Comment is gone.
But maybe something extreme DID happen. We don’t know. I had a similar experience with my father when I was 16, and 15 years later, I’m still estranged from him. I was so angry at everyone telling me to forgive when I was 16, like I didn’t know my own mind. And look, I still feel the same way as an adult!
I believe Maddox knows what is best for him, whether it’s reconciliation with his father, or maybe not. Some parents are toxic, and toxic people are no good, family or not family.
I’m not a huge Brad fan but I agree. I hope in the long run he and Maddox are able to patch it up. It will be better for Maddox if he has a good relationship with his father. I think there are cases where the kid is better off with no relationship with the father but those are very extreme cases.
I don’t doubt that someday Brad and Maddox will be close again, after all, Brad is the only father Maddox has ever known.
RT 83% . Who was saying her movie is rotten , only 60%.?. I can not wait to watch it.
Hahaha it was Kate!
But you won’t see her mention it again
Exactly! That’s what she should be talking about! Enough about healing kids already.
@Oshin:
You can bet Clooney is crying into one of the adopted twins’ blankie about right now. His movie is at 43% and dropping.
So Clooney isn’t the father of his children. I will never understand why Angie’s greatest fans despise Clooney and dog his threads. Why don’t you give his children the same respect you demand for Angie’s. They’re babies FFS.
Your comment is pretty gross.
@mayamae
Clooney is a smarmy character. I have never bought that PR marriage. He was just humiliated by the joke told about him and next thing you know he’s throwing a circus like “wedding” and then he’s becoming a father at 56. GMAB, the man is all PR.
No 16-year-old should be his mother’s rock. His mother should know where to get help if necessary.
So Maddox has lived most of his life in the USA and nevertheless identifies as Cambodian? Interesting.
2 Foreign languages at 16? Not impressive as 2 foreign languages is the standard in Europe if you want to get your A-levels. 3 foreign languages is the norm for A-level students. Some learn 4.
Also the children’s education plans seem sketchy at hell. They don’t seem to have regular teachers nor class rooms nor class mates.
There are reasons why under-16-years-old teenagers shouldn’t work full time. Children’s Rights. So I take issue with 13-years-old Pax being on set photographer.
I’ve lived my whole life in Canada, but I also have Italian citizenship, my whole family is either from Italy or still lives there so I consider myself Italian, as well as Canadian. It’s not that weird.
In all fairness Pax had to be the on set photographer, he is too big now to go up the chimneys to be a chimney sweep. Kid has got to pay his own way in life.
lol
“So Maddox has lived most of his life in the USA and nevertheless identifies as Cambodian? Interesting.”
Not really? Don’t most people identify with their country of origin? My great gran was Scottish. That’s all we ever called her. Doesn’t matter that she moved to Nova Scotia – she was born in Scotland.
**laughs**
What a joy you must be, IRL. I wonder how your life would stand up, if we peeked inside?
Have a lovely day, Planet Earth. I have a feeling those around you will need it.
Agreed. Man, you must be a real joy to be around IRL.
Take a bow, Archie- that was perfect!
They didn’t work full time. She said before that their work was after school work. Many kids in US are homeschooled. I would not worry about their education, if I were you. I bet, in a next year or two, when Maddox gets into a good university, some of you will complain that he didn’t earn that. Such is life.
Oh Lord. Why would he not identify as Cambodian? He didn’t say he doesn’t feel American. I’m half Greek but grew up in Germany. I still identify with my Greek side. If you’re from Europe, you should be very familiar with this concept.
As for the foreign languages, it depends on what level of proficiency we’re talking about. I have never met a high school student whose “3 sometimes 4” languages learned in school are spoken all that well. I’ve studied 4 plus Latin in my life and the only one I’m actually fluent in is English.
Yeah, but you are an immigrant.
I am? That is news to me. I’m HALF Greek. I am also German with German citizenship and one German parent. And what does that have to do with anything anyway?
I don’t get your reasoning @Planet Earth. So you say that littlemissnaughty, being half greek, can identify as Greek because she’s an immigrant (even though she’s not), but Maddox who was born in Cambodia and immigrated to the US, hence is an immigrant, can’t?
2 languages are the norm for A-level students?
Are you serious? Most English students (because you said A-levels) who speak a foreign language are the ones studying one. Two foreign languages is the norm in continental Europe but it’s way above averave for a native speaker of English.
Yep, 2 foreign languages is the norm for A-levels that allow you to go to university.
Go look up the laws and rules.
Would you be so kind to send me a link to a set of rules that say you need two foreign languages to go to a British university?
You must be talking about the UK since you said A-Levels and not IB or Abitur. I highly doubt it is the norm in the UK.
Planet Earth – do we live in the same UK? I teach at arguably the ‘best’ University in the UK (we oscillate between 1 and 2, with the other place), and sure there are SOME undergrads who speak more than one foreign language – but this is quite rare, in my experience. Some speak a foreign European language (having done A Levels in french, German, Spanish etc), but a majority are NOT fluent in the foreign language.
My husband and both have doctorates from the top 2 Universities in this country and neither spoke foreign languages until *I* learned an Asian language as part of my doctoral work. He still speaks ONLY English. although he did take Latin at GCSE and A Level as his 4th A Level because his SCHOOL (not University) liked (not required) ALL students to take Latin.
Studying multiple foreign languages, or even 1 foreign language is NOT the ‘norm’ that allows you to go to University in the UK. I really don’t know where you’re getting this, but you are wrong.
In fact, if I saw an application from a student who had done multiple languages at A Level, who wasn’t applying for a Language related course, I would wonder why.
Clare 🙂 I am so, so very tired of hearing that x student or x starlet is “fluent” in one or more foreign languages. If you are a native English speaker (and yes, Maddox, Zahara and Pax are native English speakers because their parents are native English speakers) the chances of you speaking a foreign language well are slim.
(Unless you started studying that language as a child). If you are Canadian and did French immersion starting in kindergarten, your French is probably pretty good. If you are American and grew up in LA and made an effort to learn, you might speak Spanish tolerably well.
In the UK, A levels are fairly difficult. You wouldn’t take a language A level unless you had a fair amount of proficiency in the language. The vast, vast majority of UK students are not capable of taking a language A level in any language other than English.
I’m originally from Israel and currently living in Italy and I can tell you that that maybe not all Europe needs at least 2 languages to graduate. The only language they know here is Italian, everything is dubbed, all books and info are all in Italian. Their level of English is terrible if not non-existent (and I’m talking about 20y olds not the older gen). They also don’t know any other language unless they went to a specific high school and studied latin, maybe french. so…not all of europe…knowing more than 1 or 2 languages well is amazing.
Yep, you need 2 foreign languages for full A-levels. And in countries like France, Germany, or Great Britain the graduation rate for full a-levels is 30-45%. Even higher in the scandinavian countries.
There are types of minor A-levels which don’t require 2 foreign languages but then you are very limited in the choice of your university studies = easy subjects only.
I think you pulled those numbers out of your ass…but i will wait till you provide us the documents or links for that. I speak 3 languages fluently and most people are quite surprised by it…and I’m an academic in Germany, so obviously surrounded by very educated people, who still don’t see that as average. Knowing a language and speaking it fluently is an all different thing…Plus, saying that you speak Latin is a bit awkward…with whom do you speak Latin?
Planet Earth – What on Earth is a ‘full a level’? I have worked in Education in the UK my entire adult life, and I have never once heard this term. Multiple foreign languages are NOT required by ANY University I can think. Not one. It MAY be a requirement for certain very specific LANGUAGE based courses (such as MML at Oxbridge), but you are incorrect.
You’ve literally just made this up. Taking a foreign language is not even compulsory at GCSE anymore, never mind at A-Level. I took one language for GCSE and A-Level as it was the only one my school offered, and even then I didn’t become fluent until I lived in the country for a year. How many languages do you speak?
I speak 4 languages, my native and 3 foreign languages I learned at school. I learned 3 foreign languages well before 17 (Engl., Lat., French). So nope, Maddox is hardly impressive.
And yes, 2 foreign languages IS the requirement for a decent university degree pretty much in all EU countries or pretty much at all universities with decent degrees. Some countries allow students to learn their 2nd foreign language at university. But they have to have 2.
You do not need 2 foreign languages, you need two languages, total. I only took my native language and English.
Stop it with the 2-languages-requirement, please. That’s just not true. And it doesn’t become any truer if you throw in “decent” as a caveat. When I graduated high school (German “Gymnasium”) I had taken English, Latin, and French. That does not mean I spoke them well at all. And I did French for fun. You “needed” to take two foreign languages. Didn’t mean you graduated in any of them, spoke them well, or had taken them beyond 10th grade/more than two years.
I could’ve gotten into uni just fine with that and without it. NO university here requires any foreign language unless of course you study them or you go into medicine etc. (Latin).
@Planet Earth – No, again, it isn’t. I have a degree from a top EU university and I only ever did one language. If I hadn’t been studying said language for my degree then I wouldn’t have needed any. You’re either lying or you think the rules in whichever country you live in apply to everywhere in Europe, which is just wrong.
Planet Earth: ‘And yes, 2 foreign languages IS the requirement for a decent university degree pretty much in all EU countries or pretty much at all universities with decent degrees.’
Errr ok…I’ll let all my friends and students who have degrees ranging from Undergrads to Doctorates from Oxbridge and Red Bricks know that their degrees don’t qualify as ‘decent’. Because you said so. Lol.
Also, you are straight up wrong.
@Planet Earth But he doesn’t speak 2 foreign languages. He is working on German according to the article. As for now the only foreign language he speaks fluently is French.
“Working on German” is … well, not speaking it yet, does he.
And no specifications on his kind of “fluency” in French. There are different degrees of fluency and respective internationally regarded tests (Delphin for French, for example, or TOEFL for English).
@planetearth he is a kid. His mom is proud. Who cares what A levels in Europe are? Why diminish this kids American accomplishments? I’m happy when my kids speak English properly and darn proud when they help with the dishes. There is enough hate in this world.
TOEFL is a joke and everyone who speaks english fluently knows so.
@Planet Earth Why don’t you just come out and say you ‘will have a problem with Angelina no matter what’. You couldn’t be more obvious in your rant.
Wow, slamming a 16 year old who is learning multiple languages. Nice.
Well as you mention, Maddox has lived the majority of his life in the US and he is American. Two foreign languages is very impressive for a 16 yo American. Most Americans, forget age, are mono-linguistic.
@Planet Earth you are literally slamming a sixteen year old (presumably because you dislike his mother). What is wrong with you?
I came to the United States at almost 6 years old and still identify as Honduran. I love the United States, but I see myself as being from the country where I was born. He seems to be saying the same thing.
I think the hate for this woman and by extension her children has gotten ridiculous
@PlanetEarth Sending you some positive energy this am. Whatever you’re going through must be rough for you to unload on a 16 y.o. stranger in this way.
If you read the full thing you’ll see that he is learning French, German and Russian so thats 3 foreign languages. I would assume that he can also speak Cambodian or a smattering of it at least, so that makes 4. How many can you speak Planet Earth since you think so little of his language abilities?
I have never encountered a european who spoke 3+ languages fluently. And having basic knowledge of more than one language does not count, it doesn’t make you bilingual nor does it mean you are fluent and dominate the language. Having a conversation in broken english with a german doesn’t count. Butchering the french language with a norwegian doesn’t count.
IMO the only foreign language that’s spoken in Europe, with different levels of proficiency, is english.
But please, do carry on with your hateful rant against a 16 year old mainly because you dislike his mother. I’m sure you’re a million times smarter than Maddox.
Well then, let’s just mock the kid because he only speaks three languages. Second time you’ve picked on this kid.
I don’t see anything wrong with Maddox saying he’s proud to be Cambodian. He’s not saying he’s not American. He’s working on a film about Cambodia, is he suppose to say I’m proud to be American? Californian? There are numerous of Americans that say they are Italian, Irish, etc that have never step foot in the motherland. I was born and raised (except for summers spent abroad) in California, but I have four different citizenships thanks to my parents. If I was working on a British film, I would say that I’m proud to be British. If it was a French film, I would say I’m proud to be French. And if it was a Thai film, I would say I’m proud to be Thai.
As for the language requirement, um…yeah, sure Jan. My family went the Oxbridge route and I never heard such a thing.
Come on back down, “Planet Earth”, the “rock” comment was nothing but something Kaiser or whoever said, it has no basis in truth.
And for the record, Maddox did NOT work full time, he worked after his school hours were over, which Angie had said over a year ago was in the mornings. He “worked” half a day at most.
Sheesh, some of you are taking this WAY too seriously.
“She’s a wonder” isn’t a phrase I’d necessarily say about my mum even though she is wonderful. Just sounds awkward to me, jmo
It reminded me of the way Pitt speaks actually. Odd phrasing, but very sweet.
That’s the first thing I thought. He speaks just like Brad lol
@tracking
I thought Maddox and Pax both were wearing styles they had seen their father wear, even down to Maddox’s ponytail. Brad has had a big influence on his children, just as much as Angie.
“She’s a wonder” is a normal phrase to me and I’m sure I could have spontaneously used it at 16. We pick up our language habits from many different sources and your sources just might not use that phrase. Mine do.
Maddox has traveled quite a bit also, so his language is probably a mix of different flavors of English both within the US and in other countries. Some of our language habits are actually decades older than we are because we pick them up from our parents, who grew up in a different era.
He probably doesn’t spend as much time watching tv as most teens in the US, so he speaks like a kid who is used to actually stringing together coherent sentences on his own and who knows how to use a variety of words rather than imitating TV’s idea of how teens are supposed to speak. His education has probably involved a lot of speaking and reading and writing and has been very one-on-one (no down-time as in a larger classroom). This means he has had more opportunities to talk seriously about things with adults than most kids. So eyeing him with suspicion because he is articulate seems unfair.
I could speak like that at his age, so the reaction baffles me. 16 year olds aren’t all dunces. They are heading rapidly to full adulthood and in a couple of years will be old enough for the university. I was reading on my own about quantum mechanics by that age, and I’m not a genius.
I doubt very much that anybody told him to say what he said. He is quite capable of making up his own mind about his mother and how she is to work with. Again, 16 year olds aren’t infants.
Hmm, Diana leaned on William with her woes and it didn’t do him much good, just look at how he turned out.
…what a sweet thing for a kid to about his mom…darlin really…
If Maddox did the job he was hired to do, no problem with mom getting him a part-time job. Parents do that all the time for their kids, either bringing them into the parent’s business or getting them set up with friends. They might have liked the perspective of someone his age who is thoughtful and articulate. He also has a connection to Cambodia. His mom has tried to keep up that connection to his first home. A friend and her husband have tried to do the same with their daughter who arrived from China even though they themselves are not Chinese.
And if anybody asked me how my mom was when I was 16, I would have praised her to the hilt even though we had plenty of conflicts and she drove me crazy sometimes. She also had many good qualities and was a wonderful mother in many ways, especially when we were younger. Still wanted to flee the nest as fast as possible… So Maddox is being normal about that.
Agreed, and I would not call this nepotism in any shady sense of the term. This film is a family production, a little different. And it seems that both Pax and Maddox did an excellent job. Love Mad’s ponytail – he looks so cute!
Eh I would consider it nepotism. It’s great he’s helping out and enjoying himself, but it’s not really the same as growing up helping the family business like a grocery store or something on that scale. He is doing a job people work towards and have experience in and he was given that postion because of who his mom is. Nepotism is nepotism across the board regardless of how much you like or dislike a certain celebrity. It’s great he was given the chance to do something like that, but you can’t not acknowledge he would not have been given that opportunity if he wasn’t her son.
DJ – But this movie actually is the family business. A grocer would let his kid work around the store, his mom hired him to do some work relevant to the movie. It may seem more exotic, but it’s quite normal when parents have work to offer. Self-employed people often find things to do for the kids. They do as his mom did – create a useful job that they think the kid can do. She actually paid him and his brother herself. She was giving them some experience. She certainly wasn’t expecting them to work at the level of a trained professional. She set the parameters for the work herself.
Even if parents work for someone else, they may bring the kid along to help if it’s something the kid can do. A university professor or office worker may not have such options, but certainly people who do physical work like yard maintenance do. They supervise the youngster and show him or her how to do things.
Of course he wouldn’t have the job if not for his mother. He doesn’t have the experience to apply for such work himself. But the same is true for the girl helping her father cut back the jungle in my yard so I can find the cats. She wouldn’t have the job if it weren’t for her dad, who is the one who pays her and makes sure she does what he needs. I don’t hire kids, I only hire adults who know what they’re doing and trust them to subcontract to their kids or anyone if they want. The one I hire is the one who supervises and decides what to do next, not me.
There is nothing wrong or abnormal about all of this. It’s not the kind of nepotism we see in the Trump White House or a company where a relative of the owner slides into a cushy high-paying job even if unqualified. It’s just parents teaching their kids when they can.
I think it’s awesome being able to communicate in multiple languages.
I also love that he is so connected to Cambodia.
Lastly I remember when he was a toddler and AJ was on Ellen Show and she mentioned he wanted her to get her pilots license,now he is getting his.
Maddox has always been close with his mum. When i was a teen, my stepdad was abusive to my mum. I was there for my mum & showed how much i loved her, regardless that i was going through my rotten teen yrs. So saying that he wouldn’t say nice things about her because he’s a teen is nonsense. You don’t know him or his feelings, so don’t disregard them because you can’t relate.
I don’t think it’s weird that he has nice things to say about his mom. I find it weird that he had to be put in that situation to make a public statement. But mostly, I find the wording is awkward. It’s the ‘she’s a wonder’ part that gets me. Not many 16 year olds speak like that. I was a great student, and had a large vocabulary when I was his age – but I still wouldn’t have chosen that wording. The “She’s fun, funny, and easy to work with” part makes total sense – and I wouldn’t expect anything less from him.
I love my mom – but I wouldn’t be out in public like “Oh gee, she’s such a wonder”.
To be fair, though, he doesn’t live the life of an average 16 year old, so maybe that’s just how he genuinely speaks.
Yeah, I don’t like reading quotes from kids. Was he interviewed or was he just asked a question while he was on the red carpet?
I worked @ my parents’ business from age six and up. Call tha police! I learned to work!
This.
I’m sure all the kids love their parents. Just stop using them for PR purposes, k?
In response to a comment above… I know many Continental Europeans and Indians who speak at least 3 languages and sometimes 4. It’s not that rare.
It’s true that it’s not rare (I speak 4 languages fluently, English is technically my third) but for an American, fluency in a second language is quite rare, especially when combined with knowledge of a third.
I have to say, some of these comments are utterly awful though. I mean, have we stooped to attacking a 16 year old for studying multiple languages and praising his mother in front of an interviewer? The nepotism is a legit thing to criticise but the other stuff just sounds like people are on crazy pills. I mean, it’s not like the family hasn’t had a rough year that might just make a teenager say what he just said about his mother.
It’s not rare to speak multiple languages, but it’s rare for any native English speaker to speak another language well. We shouldn’t criticise the child; it’s just the claim that he speaks multiple languages fluently is dubious (sorry, he’s American.)
When the kids were much smaller, you used to dream about their future jobs? Really? Now that’s a fan!
Hey, I sneer at Brooklyn Beckham’s nepotism and sneer at Maddox as well.
But at least Maddox comes across as engaged, interested in the film-making process and willing to do whatever he’s asked to do in order to learn/grow.
The same cannot be said of the vapid and, to date, talentless Brooklyn who thinks having a camera tattoo makes him a photographer.
Also – Maddox was employed by his mother, she didn’t put anyone on the spot by calling in a favour.
Are you getting that from the couple of sentences he spoke in the quote above? I’m sure he’s interested in this – but what is there to say that Brooklyn isn’t just as interested in what he’s doing?
Because I read an interview with BB from this summer and he seemed super interested in photography, and excited to go to school for photography and film. He spoke glowingly about his family, about how he liked to photograph them all for different reasons. As far as quotes go, I don’t see anything different in the two kids. Both are clearly interested in the stuff they’re doing, and both are definitely benefiting from who their parents are. Is Brooklyn some amazing artist? Probably not. Is Maddox some amazing ground breaking film industry guy? Probably not. But they are kids, and they have been awarded an amazing opportunity that they probably didn’t deserve but here we are.
@Erinn – Seriously?
Brooklyn’s parents allowed him, despite his visible-from-the-moon lack of photographic skills, to publish a book filled with chronically bad, self-indulgent photography, and then indulged it by going out and selling it with him! So proud, said his imbecilic father, My brilliant boy, said his indulgent mother. FFS.
Jolie involved her son in a project that he was interested in and he knuckled under and did the work. Neither she not he are claiming anything other than joy and pleasure at working together on something that was important to both of them.
Every time I see Pax looking so dapper and stuff, I remember the scared little boy the paparazzi shot on his way home to the Jolie-Pitts, clinging to Angelina with a worried little frown on his face. So happy for Pax he found his family!
Frankly, I would’ve loved a little nepotism in my life so I’m not going to criticize that. I succeeded on my own, but I would’ve loved to do it without student loan debt and all of that nonsense. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with letting Maddox work on this movie because if I had kids, I’d be giving them every leg-up that I can.
“When the kids were much smaller, I used to dream about their future jobs.” SO WEIRD.
Is it a bit pathetic that I, a woman hurtling towards middle age, envy Maddox’s educational opportunities?
I think of the endless hours and years spent in crappy state schools, learning nothing because everything was dumbed down, with peer pressure forcing the ‘smart kids’ to play along so as not to be thought of as ‘squares’. There is certainly something to be said for travel and home-schooling, rather than spending 4-6 years in the same dreary environment.
I’m not a big fan of either Angelina or Brad, but I like the fact she is providing them with so many diverse educational opportunities rather then grooming them to be Instagram models or socialites.
That said, it worries me that Brangelina’s kids are also mini-celebrities now, with their names and faces splashed across magazines since birth. If they are confident people and make a smooth transition towards adulthood, they will no doubt be OK, but they might struggle with the lack of privacy and anonymity if they have a difficult adolescence.
Not strange at all. I envy the traveling, nomadic lifestyle they lead. He’s so lucky to travel and experience so many things at such a young age
normally kids…. idc what tutoring or premiere learning is gonna be like my moms cool or okay or idk she alright…and then watever they are not going to say “she is lovely and fun to work with”
I remember being that age (just 13 years ago) and my mom has always been my bestfriend but idk i just would say she’s cool or she alright…. you dont say grand statement because its just not that serious….so yes this was fed to him
SHE gave birth to 3 of those kids and adopted the others and IMHO can do whatever she likes with them. if they like going to these events with her then it’s OK. I think the animated and Disney films were cool. They r with her here because of the smaller Cambodian kids and Mad and Pax were involved so wtf is the problem.
She is obviously VERY proud of her children and they have had tough year. Let them enjoy not being out and about. And again Brad not being a part of this unit was his own GD fault. Lett it go and stop blaming EVERYTHING on Jolie.