All About Maddox Jolie-Pitt, Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt's Oldest Son

Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt’s son, Maddox Chivan Jolie-Pitt, told PEOPLE in 2017 that his mom is a “miracle,” as much for her parenting as for her famous acting skills.

Jolie became a mother for the first time when she adopted Maddox in 2002. Although she welcomed Maddox into her family as a single mother, Pitt later filed to become his adoptive father after he and Jolie began dating a few years later.

After recording Lara Croft: Tomb Raider in Cambodia, the actress decided to adopt a child from that country. Although Maddox grew up in the United States, Jolie said she tried to maintain her son’s connection to his native country during his childhood. She even accepted a film adaptation of a Cambodian story They killed my father first at Maddox’s request — a project they worked on together in 2017.

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The producer often spoke about her pride for her first-born son, who is 23 years old today.

“I am so happy because [Maddox] that he grew into such a good man,” Jolie said Party tonight in 2019. “I say that because he’s smart and does his job, but he’s also wild. He is balanced in his teenage years.”

Earlier that year, as Maddox headed off to Yonsei University in South Korea, Jolie told PEOPLE, “I’m just proud. I look forward to everything he will do.”

Here’s everything you need to know about Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt’s eldest son, Maddox Jolie-Pitt.

He was born in 2001

Angelina Jolie with son Maddox at the world premiere of “Shark Tale” at the 61st Venice Film Festival on September 10, 2004.

Pascal Le Segretain/Getty

Maddox was born on August 5, 2001 in the city of Battambang, Cambodia. Jolie said she fell in love with the country during filming Lara Croft: Tomb Raider a year earlier, and immediately bonded with Maddox after meeting him at the orphanage where he spent his first 7 months of life.

The By the sea said the star vanity fair in 2017 that she “cried and cried” when she first saw Maddox and immediately knew he was meant to be her son.

Although Jolie was married to actor Billy Bob Thornton when she met Maddox, she went through the adoption process herself and the couple split a few months later. In 2005, Jolie began dating Pitt, and within a year he began the process of becoming Maddox’s adoptive father.

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Maddox is following in his parents’ footsteps

Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt with son Maddox at the premiere of “Invictus” on December 3, 2009 in Beverly Hills, California.

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Maddox quickly took an interest in his parents’ careers, first appearing as an uncredited zombie in his father’s 2013 film. World War Z. Not long after, he became an executive producer at just 15 years old when he worked on They killed my father firstJolie’s film adaptation of her friend Loung Ung’s book about the Cambodian genocide.

“I was trying to help out wherever I could,” Maddox told PEOPLE in 2017 about the filming experience. He was excited about the opportunity to learn more about his native country and to work with Jolie, whom he loved. “[She’s] fun, funny and easy to work with,” he said of his mom. “She’s a miracle.”

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Although Pitt enjoys a shared interest in the film with his son, he said it’s more important to him that Maddox follows his intuition and does what makes him happy.

“Listen, I want them to follow their bliss, to follow their passions, whatever they’re most interested in,” he said in the press room at the 2020 Oscars. “It’s about leading as much as you can.”

He is proud of his Cambodian heritage

Angelina Jolie with her children Maddox Chivan Jolie-Pitt and Shiloh Nouvel Jolie-Pitt with Loung Ung, Rithy Panh and Hima Sophy at Bangsokol: A Requiem for Cambodia on December 16, 2017 in New York City.

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While Maddox visited Cambodia as a child, he really had the opportunity to learn about the country while working They killed my father first with his mom.

“It goes back and forth [to Cambodia] a lot, but this would be more than four months of just being in the country, actually reading, listening, learning and absorbing all things about his culture and country [including] very, very dark parts,” Jolie told PEOPLE in 2017. “But Mad knows himself very well and if he said he was ready, I knew he was.”

When asked what he likes most about the country, Maddox said, “the people, by far.”

“[They are] calm, relaxed, and when they want to do something wild, they do it – kind of like me,” he explained. “I’m proud to be Cambodian.”

Maddox has many talents

Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt’s son Maddox Jolie-Pitt in New York on June 19, 2016.

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Besides filmmaking, Maddox has many interests and skills.

“He’s pretty capable and always surprises me,” Jolie told PEOPLE in 2017. “He was practicing flying, and then the other day they called me and said, ‘So Mad can go solo,’ and I almost dropped the phone!”

The Girl, interrupted the star said that her son also speaks multiple languages, as he attended French and Russian lessons.

“I hear him speaking in full, fluent French, and they’ll tell me he’s reached a certain level in his German, and I have no idea,” she said. “He doesn’t do it in front of me.” Maddox also learned to speak Korean before college.

He went to university in South Korea

Angelina Jolie and her son Maddox Jolie-Pitt at the premiere of “First They Killed My Father” during the 2017 Toronto International Film Festival on September 11, 2017 in Toronto, Canada.

Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty

In 2019, a source told PEOPLE that Maddox will attend college in South Korea to study biochemistry.

“He was accepted to other universities, but chose Yonsei [University]”, said the source. “He studied the Korean language. There are hours several times a week to prepare.”

Jolie was seen dropping off Maddox at his new home in Seoul in August 2019 and admitted that Party tonight later that month that despite the “embarrassing-my-kids ugly cry” it was still a sweet family moment.

“What was really nice was the way everyone said goodbye,” she recalled. “When you know your kids love each other and you see the way they all … give each other notes, hug each other, receive each other, support each other, then you feel like they’re going to be okay and they’re always going to have each other.”

When Maddox was forced to move home in 2020 and study remotely amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Jolie told Diary of DongA, “I couldn’t be happier about Mad’s choice of university. He’s not moving the school, he’ll be back as soon as things are settled.”

“We are all very happy, as a family, that we will have the opportunity to get to know South Korea even better through Maddox, and with him, during his studies,” added Jolie.

Maddox attended events with his parents

Angelina Jolie and her son Maddox Jolie-Pitt arrive at a state dinner honoring South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol at the White House in Washington, DC on April 26, 2023.

Stephanie Reynolds/AFP/Getty

Maddox has attended interesting Hollywood and political events over the years. He has walked the red carpet with his parents many times, including the 2013 Governors Awards, the film’s Tokyo premiere Maleficent: Mistress of Evil in 2019 i Eternals Premiered in Great Britain two years later.

Maddox even visited the White House in 2023 when he and his mother attended a state dinner hosted by President Joe Biden in honor of South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol and First Lady Kim Keon Hee.

“Asian-American relations are important to Angelina’s family. She and the children have had close ties to the region, including South Korea, for many years,” a source close to the actress told PEOPLE at the time. “Angelina has visited South Korea many times for her humanitarian aid and refugee advocacy work over the past two decades, and as an artist. Angelina and Maddox are honored to attend this state dinner.”

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Source: HIS Education