Jon Voight is apparently no closer to resolving his longstanding estrangement from daughter Angelina Jolie and son James Haven.
In response to his 34-year-old son's remarks to Marie Claire about the alleged mental abuse Voight inflicted on Haven and Jolie's mother, Marcheline Bertrand, the Oscar-winning actor said that he found it "heartbreaking" that his children "want to paint a bad guy portrait of me."
"I feel it comes from their inability to let go of years of programmed anger from their mother, who understandably felt quite hurt when we divorced," the Midnight Cowboy star said in a handwritten statement obtained by E! News. (View the letter.)
Bertrand and Voight were married for seven years before divorcing in 1978. Bertrand died of cancer in January at 56.
"In all truth, I tried to give him and their mother continuous love and support and large sums of money," Voight continued. "God knows, for years I've tried to mend this relationship. Perhaps the trauma of their mother's passing has made it worse. I continuously send them my heart and love and am always available to them for whatever they need from me."
Although Voight could be seen tearfully applauding his daughter when she picked up a Golden Globe and a SAG Award for the 1998 HBO movie Gia and an Oscar for Girl, Interrupted in 2000 and then later appeared as Lara Croft's father in the first Tomb Raider film in 2001, the 68-year-old actor and Jolie have been on the outs since her divorce from Billy Bob Thornton in 2002.
At the time, Voight said that Jolie needed treatment for "serious mental problems" and that she wasn't responding to his attempts to get in touch with her because she knew he was "trying to reach her to get help."
In June, Jolie told Britain's Evening Standard that she hoped that their relationship could be "more private in the future," and that some sort of reconciliation was a possibility.
"At the end of the day, we both wish the best for each other and we'll try to start communicating in some way," the 32-year-old actress said.
Haven partly echoed those sentiments in his sit-down for Marie Claire's November issue, but he also had a point to make.
"I don't want to constantly berate my father—I wish him well, and I hope he finds peace—but he put my mom through years of mental abuse, and it made me care especially for abandoned women and children," he said. "So, that's my religion—helping widows and orphans."
Aside from the home environment he grew up in, Haven also attributes his sister's activism as a motivating factor for his altruistic ways, which include being an activist for AIDS and human rights causes. He is also on the board of Artivist, the sponsor behind an upcoming Los Angeles film festival focusing on projects about human rights and environmental issues.
"Angie was the catalyst," Haven said. "She'd say, 'I just heard this is going on in Darfur, [etc.]', and I'd want to be involved."
The actor is also enjoying his latest role—uncle to Jolie and Brad Pitt's ever-growing brood.
"They're unbelievable," Haven said, reminiscing about some of the foursome's more charming antics.
Haven then had to answer the inevitable question about the Kiss, the notorious smooch he and Jolie shared when she won her Academy Award.
"So long ago!" he said. "Can we please move forward? Somedoay I'll get married, and on my wedding day they'll be saying, 'Okay, we have to ask about that infamous Oscar kiss.'"