Angelina Jolie Says Daughter Vivienne 'Has Learned So Much' Working with Her on Broadway's “The Outsiders” (Exclusive)
The Oscar winner tells PEOPLE ahead of the show's opening that her "young artist" daughter, 15, "has been there to assist" the production "any way she can"
The Outsiders on Broadway is a family affair for Angelina Jolie and daughter Vivienne.
"Viv is a young artist who focuses her efforts on her support of others," the actress, 48, tells PEOPLE ahead of the April 11 opening of Broadway's adaption of The Outsiders, which she co-produced. Her daughter worked on the production as a volunteer assistant.
Jolie continues of how Vivienne, 15, got her into the musical, "She saw an early workshop a few times and then invited me to it."
PEOPLE previously reported that the pair also met with the book's author S. E. Hinton, who famously wrote The Outsiders as a high-school student in the 1960s.
Of Vivienne, Jolie adds, "She has been there to assist in any way she can and has learned so much from [score and co-book writer] Justin Levine and the whole creative team."
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Related: How Angelina Jolie's Daughter Vivienne, 15, Inspired Her to Produce Broadway's The Outsiders
Jolie announced in August 2023 that she would be working as a lead producer on the new musical, an adaptation of Hinton's 1967 novel and Francis Ford Coppola’s 1983 film. She also shared at the time that Vivienne is working on the show as a volunteer assistant, and that they had taken in a performance at La Jolla Playhouse in San Diego earlier that year.
"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," Jolie said at the time, in a statement obtained by PEOPLE. "She’s very thoughtful and serious about theatre and working hard to best understand how to contribute."
Speaking with PEOPLE now, the actress says that her love of the stage began due to her mom, the late Marcheline Bertrand, who "loved theater and studied with Lee Strasberg."
"She chose to raise me and my brother and not focus on a career, but it was her love," Jolie continues. "I started to bring my children as often as I could, like she did for me."
Jolie is mom to Vivienne (whose middle name, Marcheline, honors her maternal grandmother) and her twin brother Knox, as well as four older children: Maddox, 22, Pax, 20, Zahara, 19, and Shiloh, 17.
Related: Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt's 6 Kids: Everything to Know
The plot of The Outsiders takes place in Tulsa, Oklahoma in the 1960s and follows brothers Ponyboy Curtis, Darrel Curtis, Sodapop "Soda" Curtis and their group of friends some time after the death of the Curtis brothers' parents. Its plot largely revolves around conflicts between the group of greasers and more affluent teenagers in the city, known as Socs.
Directed by Danya Taymor with choreography by Rick Kuperman and Jeff Kuperman, The Outsiders on Broadway stars Brody Grant as Ponyboy, Brent Comer as Darrel, Jason Schmidt as Soda, Sky Lakota-Lynch as Johnny Cade, Joshua Boone as Dallas "Dally" Winston and Daryl Tofa as Two-Bit Mathews, among others.
Jolie tells PEOPLE that "it’s been a privilege to be a part of the process" of bringing The Outsiders to the Great White Way, adding, "I have so much respect for Broadway and all who work within."
"I’m excited for audiences to see it," she continues. "I’ve been in the theatre watching as the first reactions came in, including the often very emotional reaction from young people. It’s very moving."
Tickets for The Outsiders are on sale now at outsidersmusical.com.
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