James Haven, Angelina Jolie’s Brother, Admittedly Speaks About “Protecting” Her Kids

In a rare interview on the 90who10 podcast, Angelina Jolie's elder brother, actor James Haven, spoke about his strong connection with his sister and her kids. Haven said that, amid her turbulent divorce and the ensuing bad press for the warring ex-couples, he felt his responsibility was to 'guard' his sister's six children. He told the co-host, Jessica Entner, "That’s where it all started; it started with the protection of her and her children—my nieces and nephews. I set my life up so I can be present in whatever the situation. I want to be there for them or for her—whatever she’s going through."

As reported by Page Six, Haven added, "There are those massively formative years; they're becoming young adults in their early 20s. That's so crazy thinking that, but yeah, I think it's just very natural [to feel protective], and I just want to be there. Very much like my mom. Anytime I'm blessed to be in their presence, I want to be in their presence." He ascribed the emotion to a lesson he acquired from his late mother and said, "[It's] a quality I got from my mom, even though cell phones were not as prevalent as they are now, but back to that idea of her always being like, 'You are the focus'." Jolie and Brad Pitt together have six children: Knox and Vivienne, who are 15 years old; Maddox, 22, Pax, 20, Zahara, 18, and Shiloh, 17.

Haven and his sister's close relationship initially came to light in 1999, when Jolie was part of the Oscar-winning Girl, Interrupted campaign. But their apparent declarations of affection, such as mouth-kissing at red-carpet events, generated gossip and scandal. When Jolie won the Oscar in 2000, she said during her victory speech, "I'm in shock, and I'm so in love with my brother right now. He just held me and said he loved me, and I know he's so happy for me. And, um, thank you for that." Haven subsequently emphasized that Jolie's declaration was misinterpreted and was just a sign of "brotherly love." Marcheline Bertrand, the mother of the siblings, was 56 years old when she died in 2007 after being diagnosed with ovarian cancer in 1999. It was thought that Haven and Jolie's emotional outbursts at this time stemmed from the strain of their mother's illness.

Beginning in the late 1990s, Haven had a consistent run of minor appearances in television and movies, most of which starred his sister or her second husband, Billy Bob Thornton, with whom she was married from 2000 to 2003. He has mostly avoided the spotlight in recent years, and his last on-screen appearance was in the 2013 short film Easy Silence. In addition to acting and directing films on occasion, his sister has maintained a multifaceted career as a human rights advocate and Special Envoy of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees.