James Haven, Angelina Jolie’s Biological Brother: What Does He Do For A Living?

James Haven is an American actor known for his work in Original Sin, Stay Alive, Monster’s Ball, and Rent-a-Person. More than his works, he is mostly recognized as the brother of Angelina Jolie and for the infamous kiss that Haven shared with his sister Jolie at the 2000 Oscars.

He has been the subject of gossip for his estranged relationship with his only sister Angelina. Once a best friend, what is the issue between these star siblings?

Read everything about James including his career, his relationships with his parents, sister, girlfriend, net worth, and many more in the following article.

Key Takeaways

• James Haven, the biological brother of Angelina Jolie, rose to fame for his controversial kiss with his sister at the 2000 Oscars. The two French kissed on the red carpet which received wide criticism but later the two clarified it stating that it was no more than siblings’ love.
• Born to actor parents Jon Voight and Marcheline Bertrand, James also followed the family business and became an actor, director, writer, and producer.
• James didn’t have a good relationship with his father Jon since he grew up seeing him misbehaving with his mom. But after his mom passed away, he embraced Christianity and reconciled with his estranged dad.
• James was in a serious relationship with actress Ashley Reign. They started dating in around 2011 and were last spotted together in 2021.

James Haven Early Life

James was born the eldest child to his parents, Jon Voight and Marcheline Bertrand on May 11, 1973, in Los Angeles, California. His birth name was James Haven Voight.

Haven was just 3 years old when his parents separated in 1976 (their divorce was finalized four years later in 1980), so he was mostly raised by his mom in Palisades, New York. At the age of 13, he returned back to his native place Los Angeles with his family and spent his teenage years in his hometown.

James’ Ethnicity Background And Education 

The star sibling James who stands the height of 6 feet and 1 inch is of mixed ethnical background. He belongs to Slovak, German ethnicity from his father’s side and has French-Canadian, Dutch, Polish, and Huron First Nations ancestry from his mom.

As for education, he went to Beverly Hills High School. Later, he attended the USC School of Cinema-Television. While studying at USC, James directed a student film starring his sister for which he even won George Lucas Award.

Who Are James Havens’ Parents?

Both James’ parents belonged to the film fraternity. His father Jon Voight is an American actor best known for portraying street hustler Joe Buck in the 1969 movie Midnight Cowboy. Starting in 1963, it’s been almost six decades since he is actively working as an actor and has earned several accolades including Gloden Globe, and Academy Awards.

Likewise, his mother Marcheline Bertrand is a former actress famous for Lookin’ to Get Out (1982), The Man Who Loved Women (1983), and Ironside (1967). Born on 9 May 1950, Bertrand died of ovarian and breast cancer on January 27, 2007, at the age of 56.

James Was Estranged From His Father; What Was The Reason?

Growing up, James never got to feel his father’s love. Since his young age, he always witness his father’s misbehavior towards his mom which is why he never felt close to him. Regarding his dad and mom’s relationship, he once talked to DailyMail and said that due to alimony, his mom was always stressed out. He further stated

 It was when he (James’ father) dealt with my mother that we really saw him pulling the strings. And that made us very sad and angry. Angelina and I saw my mum oppressed. He was very tough on my mum for years.

Not only he considered his dad a bad husband but also a not-so-good father as well.

Remembering his childhood memories of his dad, he told,

“I have no memory at all of my mother shouting at me or at my sister, “But I do have horrible memories of my father and the way he behaved. He was always around but he never did his job as a father.

Haven also remembered the saddest moment of his life while he was studying at Beverly Hills, one of the wealthiest High Schools in the nation. He was preparing to go for prom and despite having a movie-star father, he wasn’t provided even the cheapest car which made him detest his own dad and it created some distance between the father and son.

This is the sole reason, James took up his mom’s surname instead of his dad.

How’s The Father-Son Relationship Now?

At present, the father-son duo Jon and James share a good bonding. After having a tempestuous relationship for years, James started working out on his relationship with his dad after he became a born-again Christian in 2009.

It seems like his heart melted when his dad lefts a voicemail with a message of condolences when his moms passed away in 2007. Two years later, after embracing Christianity, he got back to his estranged dad and apparently fixed things between them. Breaking years of bitterness, they together attended a film exhibition at UCLA in 2017.

Recently after the COVID pandemic ended, James was captured together with his dad going out for lunch in Beverly Hills. It looks like the father and son have spent quite a good time together in recent years.

James Haven’s Controversial Kiss With His Biological Sister Angelina Jolie At Oscars

Since his early days, James has been so close to his only sibling Angelina. With the fact that they had a tumultuous childhood due to their parent’s toxic relationship, the brother-sister grew up being each other’s strong support and always had their back up for one another.

The Voight siblings were so affectionate towards one another that they didn’t even hesitate to French kiss publicly in an award show.

Back in the year 2000, James together with his sister Angelina attended the Oscars. His sis Jolie won Best Supporting Oscar and afterward, while posing for the cameras, the two shared a kiss on the lips. Further during the acceptance speech for winning the big award for her role in Girl, Interrupted, Angelina declared her love for her brother saying,

 ‘I’m in shock, and I am so in love with my brother right now. He just held me and said he loved me and i know he is so happy for me And, um, thank you for that.’

Eventually, the kiss and speech went viral and gained a wide range of criticism all around. People started commenting like ” The relationship is creepy who French kisses their brother? This is disgusting. I wouldn’t be surprised if they had done more than a kiss“, and many others.

James and Angelina’s Clarification On Their Infamous Kiss

Later, both the brother and sister clarified that the kiss they shared is nothing more than just siblings love. In this regard, James said,

I did not give Angie a French kiss, it was something simple and lovely,”

He further added,

She was about to go off to Mexico to finish filming Original Sin with Antonio Banderas. I congratulated her on the Oscar win and gave her a quick kiss on the lips. It was snapped and became a big thing round the world.

In a similar manner, the Maleficent actress also stated that the whole media thing was pathetic. She said that people missed the real story behind and it was pure family love not more than that.

What Happened to James and Angelina Jolie?

In the past few years, the famous siblings have hardly been spotted together. According to some sources, when Angelina was going through the divorce procedure with her now ex-husband Brad Pitt, James became the nanny to her six children.

But he was reportedly dismissed from the position by his own sister which may have pulled them distant. Regarding this, a close source said,

‘Angelina and James are widely believed to have drifted apart some years ago. They used to be inseparable; he was very much her go-to companion and was her best friend for so many years as well as a devoted brother.

The source further said,

James helped raise her kids and he would baby sit whenever Angie and Brad wanted private time. But all of a sudden and with no real explanation their communication seemed to just stop out of nowhere.  He does his thing, she does hers and while they may be cordial from a distance you certainly don’t see or hear of them being together.

Lately, James has maintained a low profile.

Haven’s One Of The Nieces Was Named After Him

Angelina’s first biological child Shiloh Nouvel Jolie-Pitt was named after James. Actually, Shiloh was chosen by James’ parents for his middle name, and at last they changed their mind and named him ‘Haven’.

When his niece Shiloh was born on May 27, 2006, his sister Angie wanted to give the name to her firstborn child. Remembering the moments when his sister and brother-in-law consult him for giving his original name to their child, Haven once told,

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?’,“I was almost in tears – I was so honored.”

Angelina Jolie’s Sibling James Haven Is An Actor; His Movies And TV Shows

Angelina Jolie’s brother began his acting career through the 1998 TV movie, Gia. In comparison to his sister, he really had a short career in acting and has 15 acting credits to his name. Let’s list some of them here;

• Hell’s Kitchen (1998)
• Scrapbook (1999)
• Original Sin (2001)
• Hunting of Man (2003)
• CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (2004)
• Stay Alive (2006)
• Easy Silence (2014) and many others

Further, he has also worked as a director, and writer for the short movie Court of Conscience. In addition to that, he has been an executive producer for Trudell (2005), That’s Our Mary (2011), and Easy Silence (2014).

Moreover, James is also the executive board director of Artivist, a film festival and award that recognized films addressing human rights, animal rights, and environmental issues.

James Is Also A Philanthropist

The actor and director, James is also involved in the well-being of society. He is the founder of the non-profit organization Core Cause Foundation. Also, he is a co-founder of Havenly Blue Foundation which works for children. He is on the advisory board of Global Action for Children.

Further, James is one of the founding members of the Bertrand-BRCA Foundation.

Who Is James Haven’s Partner? Is Married Or Dating?

Well,  the 50 years old James is not married yet. Further, his current relationship status is also unclear due to his private nature. But his last known relationship was with actress and screenwriter Ashley Reign. The couple for the first time captured together kissing back in 2011  in a Burbank parking lot.

They were reported to have been dating for more than two years during that time. One of their close friends gave a statement on James and Ashley’s relationship and said,

They are head over heels in love. Ashley is one of the first girls James has felt serious enough about to introduce to his family and spend some quality time with. ‘Whenever they are together they act like teenagers in love and cannot keep their hands off each other.

It was assumed that the two are committed to one another wholly and soon to be tying the knot as James had introduced Ashley to his whole family. But it didn’t seem like things went as per the plan. They were last spotted together in the year 2021 in a seedy LA suburb. Since then, the pair haven’t made a public appearance together.

James Was Single For Several Years Due To His Sister’s Picky Nature

Before he met Ashley, James once talked about the reason why he was single and said

Maybe I haven’t found the right woman because my sister is too picky for me. Any woman has to go through two filters, me and then my sister.

He further added,

 because I’m so close to Angie it’s like I’ve already got the perfect woman in my life and it’s hard for anyone else to live up to that.

Sometime later, James seems to have found that perfectionism in his girlfriend Ashley, and the two started seeing each other. But at present, it’s unclear if they are still together.

What Does James Haven Do For Living Now? His Current Whereabouts

Lately, it doesn’t seem like he is working in movies. His last acting project was the short film Easy Silence in 2014. So, probably, he is currently involved with his non-profit associations. As for living, his earning is claimed to be money that he received from his sister.

It is said that he gets 10 percent of his sister Jolie’s earnings as the deal was made when their late mother Marcheline handled Jolie’s finances before her death.

As earlier mentioned, James has been keeping a low profile lately. So, his current whereabouts are also difficult to trace, however, as per our assumptions, he must be residing in California near his father.

James’ Social Media Handles

He is on Facebook with 31 friends. So far, he has just uploaded one picture on his FB account. Further, he has a fan account on Instagram which has 816 followers in total.

James Haven’s Net Worth

James has an estimated net worth of $2 million as of 2023. Meanwhile, his sister Angelina owns a fortune of $120 million which she earned through her successful acting career. In the same way, his father Jon is also a multi-millionaire with a net amount of $55 million.

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