What Is The Kindest Thing Anyone Has Ever Done For Angelina Jolie?
If there's one celebrity who embodies deeply impassioned philanthropy, it's Angelina Jolie. Throughout her illustrious career, Jolie has participated in innumerable humanitarian efforts, including work for the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) and decades-long work for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). Her passion for humanitarian causes seemingly stemmed from her 2001 role in "Lara Croft: Tomb Raider," in which she witnessed a devastated Cambodia firsthand.
Speaking to NY Rock that year, Jolie described her Cambodia experience as "eye-opening." In the interview, she stated, "[T]o know that there are hospitals where kids are still being affected by stepping on landmines every day, was horrifying and so sad. You never hear about that." She further added, "To discover that kind of stuff was to really understand people in the rest of the world. So Cambodia was really eye-opening for me."
Two decades later, Jolie is still pursuing humanitarian efforts. The mother of three biological children has also adopted three children from around the world — including the Cambodian-born Maddox, Ethiopian-born Zahara, and Vietnamese-born Pax. And while Jolie is continuing her acts of kindness worldwide, there was one moment during her travels when those acts were unequivocally reciprocated. And she'll perhaps never forget it.
A child's act of kindness left Angelina Jolie floored
Ever the humanitarian, Angelina Jolie has seen it all. From starvation to war-torn nations, Jolie has borne witness to many atrocities. But despite such, there are still beautiful, yet fleeting moments that occur amidst the chaos. Throughout her career, however, no act of kindness has moved Jolie like what she experienced near the Syrian border.
Speaking to People on October 29, Jolie revealed, "This little girl came up to me and offered me some biscuits that she had in her pocket." She added, "Knowing what she'd come from, knowing what she was heading into, knowing everything she'd experienced, yet in that moment she wasn't thinking of herself or everything she had lost. She wasn't sitting with self pity. She just saw me—I must have looked tired and she just walked over and thought to just be kind." Jolie resoundingly concluded, "That's what makes human beings so wonderful."
In 2020, Jolie penned a feature for TIME, detailing her relationship with the nation. "I've been to the Syrian region some 10 times since the conflict began [in 2011]. At first, the families I met were hopeful. They said, 'Please, tell people what is happening to us,' trusting ... the world would come to their rescue," Jolie wrote. She further lamented about the "anger and the struggle for survival ... and the pain of families I met who faced daily choices about which of their children would get scarce food and medicine."