Angelina Jolie became an actor because of her mother

Angelina Jolie never wanted to be an actor.

In a newly published interview with W magazine to promote her film “Maria,” the celebrated actor and director shared that she initially got into the industry “because it was my mother’s dream.”

“She pursued acting, but by the time my mom was 25, she was divorced with two kids and she decided to focus her life solely on motherhood,” Jolie told the publication. “She didn’t make me feel like it was a sacrifice — she loved being a stay-at-home mom. But she really wanted me to be an actress.”

Her mother, Marcheline Bertrand, married actor Jon Voight in 1971, gave birth to their son James in 1973 and Jolie in 1975 before filing for divorce from Voight in 1978.

Bertrand died in 2007, after living with ovarian cancer for almost eight years.

Jolie said that when it came to being a performer, “I don’t remember making the choice. I remember it made my mom happy.”

“My mom was my manager, and we were a team,” Jolie recalled. “I always wanted to buy her a house, and I started to pay the bills. When my mom passed, it was harder for me to be an actress because I realized how much of it was for her.”

Now that she is herself a mother of six, Jolie is focused on allowing them to find their own passions. She mentioned in the interview that her “secret skill” is that she can fly planes and has a Cirrus.

One of her sons now flies, but Jolie said she doesn’t worry about him being up in the air.

“I worry more that people aren’t finding themselves and something they love. I think that’s more dangerous, to walk so tentatively through life that you don’t take a risk,” she said. “You don’t wake up with passion. I think that’s scarier. I’d rather they be out there trying and failing than not pushing and being passionate.”