Angelina Jolie Reveals Son Maddox Has Followed in Her Footsteps by Becoming a Trained Pilot

Mar. 15, 2025

Maddox Jolie-Pittis going into the family business — and no, notthatone.

The 23-year-old son ofAngelina JolieandBrad Pittis following in his mother’s footsteps (airstream?) to become a pilot.

“I am a pilot,” Jolie, 49, toldJimmy Fallonon the Dec. 5 episode ofThe Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. “And my son Maddox is training to be a pilot too. He, actually, he is a pilot now.”

In fact, it was Maddox whofirst inspired theMariaactress to get in the cockpit. The Oscar winner first started flying in 2004 to impress her then-young son.

Angelina Jolie and Maddox Jolie-Pitt at the White House in April 2023.STEFANI REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty

STEFANI REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty

Jolie got her pilot’s license in December 2004 and in early 2005, she bought the single-engine plane, a Cirrus SR22-G2. Jolie kept Maddox close while in the air, too: Her tail number contained the letters “MX” in honor of her son. She trained with an instructor as well as with her then-husband Pitt, 60, while the former couple was living in Canada.

A source told PEOPLE at the time that she was a “completely competent, confident flyer,” and noted that Jolie bonded with other female flyers-to-be at the local hangar. “She just beams in the cockpit,” the source added.

And in 2017, Jolie shared with PEOPLE that Maddox had also begun flying.

Never miss a story — sign up forPEOPLE’s free daily newsletterto stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer​​, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

As for therest of her family, Jolie — who also sharesPax, 21,Zahara, 19,Shiloh, 18,Knox, 16, andVivienne, 16, with Pitt — gave some insight into her children’s attitudes in regards to one day working in the entertainment industry.

“My kids, I think some of them off-camera, behind the scenes, but they really, really want to be – especially Shiloh – they want to be private,”Jolie told Fallon on Dec. 5. “Just private, not photographed, not on the thing. I think, her most of all would like privacy.”

“It just must get so tricky, because everyone’s famous,” Fallon noted.

“But it wasn’t their choice,” theMaleficientstar explained. “So some people are more comfortable with public, some people are more comfortable with talk shows.”

Angelina Jolie and Jimmy Fallon on ‘The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon’.Courtesy of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon

Courtesy of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon

Jolie herself had an unusual backup career path she considered before going into acting: a funeral director.

“Doesn’t it make sense, though?” she asked, laughing. “My grandfather died and I remembered thinking this is not how they should be. This should be a celebration of life and since I’m not afraid of death and I was comfortable with it, I thought this would be a great career path. I could make this better. I could do a thing here. It’s my fallback career.”

The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallonairs weeknights (11:35 a.m. ET) on NBC.

source: people.com