Angelina Jolie isn't one to take all the credit.
The writer, director and star of Universal Pictures' upcoming movie By the Sea received the WSJ. Magazine Innovator Award for Entertainment and Film in New York City Thursday, and rather than focus on her own accomplishments, she found a way to honor her late mother, actress and producer Marcheline Bertrand, in addition to her six children with Brad Pitt, her husband of just over a year.
E! News has the exclusive footage of Jolie accepting her award.
"When I was little, my mom used to say to me, 'Let me see your soul. When I was angry or sad or trying to express something that mattered, she would hold me and she would look me in the eyes and say that. And if I didn't know what it meant but I understood that she wanted me to drop all pretenses and just be. My children are innovators. All children are...For me, in my art of films as a director or writer, I try to listen to my mother and bear my soul and to listen to my kids and make a mess and to play and be free," Jolie said. "When we celebrate innovation we are celebrating human freedom. We can't put a price on the value of the individual spirit."
Jolie's speech only got more powerful from there.
"When we celebrate innovation we are celebrating human freedom. We cannot put a price on the value of the innovative spirit, the gain to society when people are able to experiment, challenge orthodoxy and put forward new ideas, and the loss of humanity when that freedom is stifled by poverty, prejudice and oppression or by war. So I accept this award mindful of those—particularly many women—who have not had our opportunities, who live other political systems or in personal circumstances that deny them self-expression, freedom and independence, and who remind us as much as we celebrate in all that's achieved through innovation and human invention, there is still so much more for us all to do," the actress said.
After Jolie ended her speech, Pitt kissed her forehead and gave her a big hug. "They were very lovey with each other and you could tell by the way he looked at her he was so in love," an attendee tells E! News. In fact, throughout the duration of the private event, the A-list stars were "sitting very close" to one another. "Brad had his hand on Angelina's back the whole night. They were acting very much in love."
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