Speaking at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival on February 5, Jolie, 49, recalled watching her father, Jon Voight, win Best Actor at the 1979 Academy Awards while her mother, Marcheline Bertrand, stayed home with her and her brother, James Haven. “My mom’s dream was to be an actor,” Jolie shared. “She was in her twenties, divorced from a very famous man, and home with her babies watching him win an Oscar with the other woman.”
Voight, who separated from Bertrand in 1976, attended the ceremony with actress Stacey Pickren. Jolie described her mother’s sacrifice as something that stayed with her. “She was there for me and my brother, and that was the choice she made,” she said.
When Jolie won Best Supporting Actress for Girl, Interrupted in 2000, she dedicated the moment to Bertrand. “To get off that stage, call her, and say, ‘It’s yours’—I gave it to her—one of the best moments of my life,” she said.
Jolie accepted the Maltin Modern Master Award from Ava DuVernay, growing emotional as she spoke about her mother’s unwavering support. “She had to give up her dreams of a creative life, but she embraced that side of mine,” Jolie said, recalling how Bertrand would write letters addressed to her film characters.
Jolie’s latest film, Maria, in which she portrays opera icon Maria Callas, is now streaming on Netflix.
