Jon Voight is a proud father and grandfather.
Voight, 85, gushed to TMZ about his daughter, Angelina Jolie, and granddaughter, Vivienne Jolie-Pitt, taking home gold at the 2024 Tony Awards with the musical they coproduced, The Outsiders.
“I’m very proud of Vivienne. I’m really proud of Angie because she really tries to encourage each of the kids to be what they want to be,” the actor told TMZ in an interview published on Monday, June 24.
The Outsiders won four awards including best musical at the Tonys on June 16. It was nominated in 12 categories.
Voight recalled how Jolie, 49, called him to tell him that she was producing the Broadway version of the musical, and credited Vivienne, 15, with getting her mom involved. Vivienne had previously introduced Jolie to the musical during its 2023 run at the La Jolla Playhouse.
Angelina Jolie and Vivienne Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for Tony Awards Productions
“It’s amazing. It’s interesting because I just worked with Francis [Ford] Coppola on Megalopolis. During the filming of Megalopolis, I got a call from Angie and she said, ‘I’m doing Outsiders,’” he explained. “Vivienne read the book and then went down to see this pre-Broadway version close to San Diego. She went down four times and said, ‘Mom, you’ve got to see this.’ Angie was very interested. It showed something of Vivienne she’d never seen before.”
Vivienne is credited as an assistant and coproducer on the Broadway version of The Outsiders, which opened in April and is based on S.E. Hinton’s 1967 novel of the same name and a 1983 Francis Ford Coppola-directed film adaptation.
Voight thinks his talented granddaughter could make a career of producing.
“The directors of this piece said she had talent. She has an eye for something,” he said.
Jolie, who shares Vivienne with her ex-husband Brad Pitt, praised her daughter’s eye for theater when they were announced as producers on the Broadway version of The Outsiders in August 2023.
Angelina Jolie and Vivienne ANGELA WEISS/AFP via Getty Images
“Viv reminds me of my mother in that she isn’t focused on being the center of attention but in being a support to other creatives. She’s very thoughtful and serious about theatre and working hard to best understand how to contribute,” said Jolie in a statement at the time.
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“She’s been a really tough assistant. She takes it very, very seriously,” Jolie praised Vivienne again in April when The Outsiders debuted on Broadway.
Vivienne is credited in the playbill for the production as “Vivienne Jolie” rather than “Jolie-Pitt,” the hyphenated last name she shares with her siblings, Maddox, 22, Pax, 20, Zahara, 19, Shiloh, 18, and twin Knox, 15.
Shiloh is currently attempting to legally change her name to match her mother’s maiden name.