Angelina Jolie‘s brother James Haven, 50, has been in the spotlight with his famous sister on and off throughout the years. The 48-year-old actress’ only sibling, whose parents are Jon Voight and the late Marcheline Bertrand, has made public appearances with her at various times during her fame, and despite living a low-key life most of the time, he has an impressive career and history of his own.
The siblings are famous (sometimes infamously) close, and in December of 2023, James opened up about being protective of his sister following her divorce from ex-husband Brad Pitt. “That’s where it all started, it started with the protection of her and her children — my nieces and nephews,” he said during an appearance on the 90who10 podcast, via Page Six. “I set my life up so I can be present with whatever the situation,” he explained “I want to be there for them or for her — whatever she’s going through.”
Find out more about James and his life with Angelina below!
James is also an actor.
Like Angelina, the talented star has appeared in various films and television shows since 1998. He started out in a small role in Angelina’s film Gia and has appeared in other popular movies since then, including Hell’s Kitchen, Original Sin, Monster’s Ball, Breaking Dawn, and Stay Alive. The television shows he’s appeared in include CSI: Crime Scene Investigation and The Game.
In addition to acting, he’s been the executive board director of Artivist, which is a festival in Los Angeles that puts a spotlight on various issues, including human rights, animal rights, and environmental issues.
He was once Angelina’s kids’ nanny.
Shortly after Angelina’s split from her husband Brad Pitt in 2016, James reportedly moved in to step in the role of not only uncle, but head nanny to some of the other nannies looking after Angelina and Brad’s six children, who include Maddox, Pax, Zahara, Shiloh, Vivienne, and Knox. She reportedly fired him in 2017, however, and their close relationship had reportedly drifted away since then.
But in the December 2023 podcast interview mentioned above, James seemed to push back on that narrative, saying he wanted to be there for Angie’s kids during their “massively formative years.” “They’re becoming young adults early 20s,” he said. “I think it’s just very natural and I just want to be there any time. Anytime I’m blessed to be in their presence, I want to be in their presence.”
His niece Shiloh was named after him.
James revealed that Shiloh was supposed to be his middle name when he was born in 1973, but his parents changed their minds, in a 2007 interview with Grazia. When Shiloh was born in 2006, Angelina apparently remembered and loved the name so much, that she chose it for her daughter.
“At the last second, my parents gave me Haven instead. It was very cool when Brad and Angie came to me and said, ‘We’re thinking of names and our favorite is Shiloh. We know that was your original name, so would that be OK?’,” James told the outlet. “I was almost in tears – I was so honored.”
He sparked controversy when he & Angelina kissed at the 2000 Oscars.
The brother and sister attended the ceremony together and shared a smooch on the lips as they posed on the red carpet. It caused eyebrows to raise and made headlines everywhere, becoming a now-infamous moment. Angelina’s acceptance speech for winning Best Actress for her role in Girl, Interrupted, also got the attention that night when she said she was “in love” with James.
Despite the confusion of some viewers, both James and Angelina were reportedly going through a difficult time behind the scenes during that time when their mother began treatment after being diagnosed with ovarian cancer, which she passed away from seven years later. They reportedly spent that same day at the hospital before stepping out on the carpet for one of the biggest award shows in the world. “Nobody in the world knew that they spent the day in the hospital. It was like, ‘Look where we’re at now.’ But the world saw something incestual,” an insider told Radar Online.
James became a born-again Christian in 2009.
Since embracing his religion, he has reportedly been a part of Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, CA and was apparently training to be a youth minister in 2012. Being a Christian is reportedly what led him to mending things with his father, Jon, after years of being estranged from him, and he allegedly encouraged Angelina to do the same.