Vivienne Jolie-Pitt, the youngest of Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt’s children, comes from a long line of acting royalty. In addition to her A-lister parents, Vivienne’s maternal grandmother, Marcheline Bertrand, was also an actor. And despite having been born one year after Bertrand died, Jolie says her youngest daughter reminds her a great deal of her late mother.
Vivienne has undergone a stunning transformation over the years. She has worked closely with her mother as a production assistant for a Broadway musical adaptation of S.E. Hinton’s book “The Outsiders.” In an interview with E! News, Jolie revealed that her daughter and mother had similar approaches to theater. “Viv reminds me of my mother in that she isn’t focused on being the center of attention,” Jolie explained.
Instead, Jolie said her daughter is far more focused on finding ways to support her fellow cast and crew. “She’s very thoughtful and serious about theater and working hard to best understand how to contribute,” Jolie said.
Angelina Jolie and Vivienne Jolie-Pitt bonded over their love of theater
Angelina Jolie and her youngest daughter, Vivienne Jolie-Pitt, have enjoyed attending theater productions together since Vivienne and her twin sibling, Knox Léon Jolie-Pitt, were toddlers. Jolie’s decision to be the lead producer of Broadway’s “The Outsiders” was inspired by Vivienne, who asked her mother to take her to a performance of the show at La Jolla Playhouse at the University of California San Diego.
“I feel very fortunate to be a part of this special production,” Jolie said in a statement (via Deadline). “I hope to be able to contribute while continuing to learn from this amazing team, who I have been working with since my daughter brought me to see the show at La Jolla Playhouse. I can’t begin to express how excited I am for this musical to make its Broadway debut.”
Jolie’s decision to include Vivienne in the Broadway adaptation wasn’t just due to their mother-daughter bond. An inside source told E! News that Jolie believes “The Outsiders” is particularly poignant for young people, and as such, she wants young people’s voices and ideas to lead the way in bringing the book’s musical adaptation to life. Vivienne, who was 15 when production started, fits the bill perfectly.
This isn’t the first time Angelina and Vivienne have worked together
Vivienne Jolie-Pitt might be taking a behind-the-scenes role in “The Outsiders” as her mother’s production assistant, but this isn’t the first time the mother-daughter duo have worked together. The young girl’s first movie role was as young Aurora in Disney’s “Maleficent,” in which Jolie starred as the striking titular witch. That, too, was a decision made out of necessity — Vivienne was the only toddler who wasn’t deathly afraid of Jolie.
In a press conference for the film, Jolie explained that while she never intended to encourage her daughter to enter show business, the production team ran into a significant filming snag: every child was terrified of Jolie in her Maleficent costume. “We couldn’t really cast somebody who would be loving toward a monster. But Vivienne is that little girl that clings to her mom no matter what I’m doing, so she was unfazed by me being very mean” (via YouTube).
Jolie spoke to Mario Lopez of Extra TV about Vivienne’s performance, admitting the toddler was a bit distracted whenever she was filming scenes that didn’t include her mother. Still, Jolie said, “She’s got a really nice, casual approach to it all where it’s fun to play with Mommy, but she also wants to know if there’s any candy, and she doesn’t really care about seeing herself in a film.” Perhaps, like Jolie’s mother, Vivienne will continue to thrive more in an offstage setting.
