Angelina Jolie Interviews Daniel Pearl’s Widow Mariane About Overcoming Trauma, Hard Realities

Angelina Jolie interviewed Daniel Pearl’s widow Mariane about overcoming trauma and talking hard realities with her children.

Jolie has known her for 15 years as a friend, mother, journalist and women’s voice. Mariane’s late husband, a Wall Street Journal reporter, was murdered by a terrorist in Pakistan in 2002.

Jolie starred in the 2007 film “A Mighty Heart” that was inspired by Daniel and Mariane’s story when he was kidnapped. Jolie played the role of Mariane. In an interview for TIME, the two women discussed the trauma and tragedy following Daniel’s death.

Mariane was pregnant with their son Adam when the incident happened and she received tons of letters from Pakistani citizens, giving her their names and contacts and assuring her that they didn’t fear reprisal for supporting her. Mariane had no plans to take revenge because for her, “terrorism would have won if I had lost my faith in mankind, but the opposite happened.”

Mariane continued saying that she believes in the people’s potential to remain dignified and empathetic. She also praised her son Adam, 17, for being a talented guitar player and graphic artist, who wants to study physics and philosophy and will be going to Harvard soon.

When asked how Mariane communicates with her kids about hard realities, she talked about her dad’s suicide, which she only found out when she was 17.

“I believe in taking children seriously while respecting their rights to be children. In my own family, my father’s suicide remained a secret until I was 17. As a teenager, I knew he didn’t just die by accident as I was told, and that was very scary,” Mariane said.

“When I discovered his suicide note, it was an odd but powerful relief. When I found out, we still were not allowed to talk about him though. I believe proper communication would have spared me a lot of angst. Children don’t belong to anybody but themselves and they are entitled to their realities.”

When asked for advice for people who are going through a difficult time, the French freelance journalist said it’s difficult to give one because “pain is so specific” and “hardships tend to shape people’s lives.” However, she shared what one can do to help.

“It’s our work as human beings to give them significance and to clarify what it is that we have come into this world for,” Mariane said.

In related news, Jolie shared her children’s diet in a previous interview. According to the “First They Killed My Father” director, her children with Brad Pitt are fond of eating bugs. In fact, Shiloh Jolie-Pitt loves eating tarantula and bugs.