Angelina Jolie Gets Emotional Recalling When Her Mother Watched Jon Voight Attend Oscars With 'Other' Lady

Angelina Jolie talks about her emotional family memory at Santa Barbara Film Festival. Read on to know the details.

Written by Ipshita Chakraborty , Entertainment Journalist

Published on Feb 07, 2025 | 05:02 PM IST | 7.8K

CC: Getty Images

Angelina Jolie's history with the Oscars predates her winning the first time. At the Santa Barbara International Film Festival on February 5, the Maria star discussed an emotional family memory linked to the night Hollywood chooses its finest.

During the acceptance of her Maltin Modern Master Award, Jolie mentioned watching the 1979 Academy Awards, during which her father, Jon Voight, received Best Actor for Coming Home. Jolie was living at home with her mother, Marcheline Bertrand, while Voight and Marcheline had separated in 1976. The couple officially divorced in 1980.

"I am trying to think of how much I'm going to share right now," Jolie began talking about her Best Supporting Actress win for Girl, Interrupted, as per People.

Bertrand, a former actress, once dreamed of an acting career in Hollywood, Jolie described. She could vividly remember her mother's story about watching Voight attend the ceremony with another woman—a date, reportedly, actress Stacey Pickren — while she stayed back at home with the children.

Jolie spoke about her mother, mentioning, "She was in her twenties because she had me when she was very young. She was divorced from a very famous man and she was home with her babies in an apartment watching him win an Oscar with the other woman." That was a lasting memory for Jolie, which developed in her understanding of sacrifice and resilience.

Jolie recounted, "My mom was home with two little kids. My mom's dream was to be an actor. I believe my mother's mother's dream was to be an actor, which is probably why she took her to the theater in Chicago all the time."

Recalling the time when she won an Academy Award for Girl, Interrupted in 2000, Jolie said her mind was preoccupied with her mom that evening. She said, "To have that moment, to get off that stage and call her and say, ‘It's yours' — and I gave it to her — one of the best moments of my life."

During her address, Jolie choked up discussing Bertrand, who died in 2007. She noted how her mother had channeled her creative ambitions into a campaign to back Jolie's career, and even wrote letters to her movie characters such as Gia, Lisa Rowe, and Lara Croft.

Angelina Jolie stars in the newest film, Maria, available now on Netflix. She plays the opera diva Maria Callas.