James Haven is a proud (and protective) uncle to sister Angelina Jolie’s children.
“I think it’s natural and that’s where [my bond] all started, it started with the protection of her and the direct her children — my nieces and nephews [during] those massively formative years,” Haven, 52, said during a New Year’s Eve appearance on the “90who10” podcast. “They’re becoming young adults [in their] early 20s. But, I just want to be there there [for them], very like my mom.”
He added: “Anytime I’m blessed to be in their presence, I want to be in their presence.”
Jolie, 48, and ex-husband Brad Pitt share six children: Maddox, 22, Pax, 20, Zahara, 18, Shiloh, 17, and twins Vivienne and Knox, 15. Jolie and Pitt, 60, split in 2016, subsequently battling for custody of their minor children.
Regardless of the court drama, Haven makes sure to support his nieces and nephews however and whenever he can.
“I set my life up so I can be present with whatever the situation [is],” Haven, who is the son of Jon Voight and ex-wife Marcheline Bertrand, added. “As I said, [they are in their] formative years and [are] young adults. I want to be there for them, or for her, whatever she’s going through.”
Haven, who also works as an actor, gushed that he and Jolie have “very mutual interests” when it comes to her children’s well-being “especially if it focuses on how to help the kids.”
“She’ll say something [and] I’ll bring in, I’ll say, ‘Well, then the best thing we might do is this or that’d be good and then we can do this,’” he added. “I know there’s going to be many things in the future that we’ll probably be working on which we’ve never done publicly.”
Haven cites an interest in giving back and philanthropy that bonded him and Jolie.
“I don’t want to give all the credit to my mom, but there was such a heart that she had that then I think it was an automatic that we had a heart for,” he said. “I can’t speak for my sister I can only speak for myself, [but] when you have certain upbringings, especially if you don’t like what you’re feeling [or] if you’re going through certain things [like] divorce, family [or] your own trauma, you want to better the future so others don’t have to go through that.”
Voight, 85, and Bertrand, who died in 2007, had divorced in 1980.
