Angelina Jolie calls ex-husband ‘wonderful’ as she opens up about raising sons

While the wounds from her lengthy legal battle with ex-husband Brad Pitt over their divorce might remain fresh, it looks like Angelina Jolie has definitely found peace when it comes to her other two ex-husbands.

The Oscar-winning actress, 49, was first married to Jonny Lee Miller from 1996-2000, and soon after their divorce, tied the knot with Billy Bob Thornton, with their divorce finalized in 2003.

After a nearly decade long romance, Angelina and Brad got married in 2014 at their once shared estate, the Chateau Miraval in France, before separating in 2019 and getting divorced.

On Wednesday, February 5, the actress was awarded with the Maltin Modern Master Award by the Santa Barbara Film Festival, which HELLO! attended, and looked back on some key moments in her career.

And it all started with her first leading role in the 1995 film Hackers opposite Jonny, now 52, and during a Q&A with critic Leonard Maltin, she brought up her ex.

“Yeah, it’s Jonny. I just talked to him. I love that — I get to see my ex-husband with 2,000 people,” she joked. After the clip was played, she sweetly added: “I don’t really watch my own films and so I don’t think I’ve seen it since the premiere, but I do have a wonderful relationship with Jonny. We now have sons the same age and I’m so happy to have done that.”

In 2008, the English actor tied the knot with Michele Hicks after two years of dating, and they welcomed their son Buster in December 2008, now making him 16, the same age as Angelina and Brad’s two youngest children, twins Knox and Vivienne. Jonny and Michele eventually split in 2018.

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During the event, where she was presented with the festival’s highest honor by Ava DuVernay, she further said of her career: “I think back on my life and all the things I almost didn’t do, I almost missed.” 

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“I said no to Tomb Raider the first time. And then they said you can travel the world and train with the British military. And I said I will wear the shorts for the first five minutes of the movie and that’s it. And that’s what happened.”

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The actress, who most recently received acclaim for the Oscar-nominated Maria, also spoke about her love for directing and how she finds joy in it separate from being on screen herself.

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“It’s the best,” she gushed. “I love directing. I prefer directing. It’s like, if you have the right family, you trust your heads of department, you love your actors, you love your work, and you’re all there together.” 

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“Your job is to make the space and bring the best in everybody and come with a strong plan and take responsibility. But I really love it, because I love seeing the best in other people.”

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She noted, however, that she struggled with accepting fame at first. “Having success and being recognized and being put on one side of a line to another person really made me very uncomfortable — I went very dark in that time.”