Angelina Jolie made a powerful, moving speech after receiving the WSJ. Magazine Innovator Award for Entertainment/Film during the WSJ Magazine 2015 Innovator Awards in New York City on Nov. 4, Wednesday.
The "By the Sea" director, writer and actress opted not to highlight her accomplishments and instead talked about her mother and kids in her acceptance speech, E! Online reported.
"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," Jolie said.
The 40-year-old actress also found a way to acknowledge her six children with Brad Pitt during her speech. "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's speech then shifted from personal to powerful. "When we celebrate innovation we are celebrating human freedom," Jolie stated. "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."
The "Maleficent" star also made an influential remark on women empowerment by addressing in her speech the women who missed their opportunities due to living with other "political systems or in personal circumstances that deny them self-expression, freedom and independence."
After finishing her speech, Jolie received a big hug and a kiss on the forehead from her husband Brad Pitt, according to the publication. Throughout the night, the Hollywood power couple was seen being romantic together and sitting closely to each other.
Jolie and Pitt are co-stars in the upcoming romantic drama film "By the Sea," in which they will play the role of a couple with a troubled marriage. The film will be released on Nov. 13.
