Before Angelina Jolie introduced The Outsiders cast performance at the Tony Awards, she delivered some impactful pearls of wisdom.
“S.E. Hinton wrote The Outsiders in high school, half a century later, it still speaks to us. Society changes but the experience of being an outsider is universal,” Jolie, 49, said during the Sunday, June 16, awards ceremony at the David H. Koch Theater in New York City. “To any young person [and] any person feeling on the outside, you are not wrong to see what’s unfair.”
She continued, “You are not wrong to wish to find their own path and as the cast raises their voices, I hope it inspires many of you watching to value yours. Please welcome the extraordinary company of The Outsiders.”
Jolie and her 15-year-old daughter Vivianne are producers on the Broadway adaptation of The Outsiders, which is up for a handful of Tony Awards including Best Musical. To celebrate the honor, both Jolie and Vivianne stepped out in style on Sunday. (Ariana DeBose hosted the 77th annual Tony Awards at Lincoln Center while Skylar Astin emceed the American Express “Broadway Fanfare” simulcast just outside.)
Jolie stunned in a green Atelier Versace velvet gown with fluid draping at the bodice that coordinated a velvet shrug and satin shoes. Vivianne matched her mom in an emerald suit.
The Outsiders ultimately won Best Musical, marking the first Tony wins for both Jolie and Vivienne.
“Viv reminds me of my mother in that she isn’t focused on being the center of attention but in being a support to other creatives,” Jolie previously said in an August 2023 statement about their new roles. “She’s very thoughtful and serious about theatre and working hard to best understand how to contribute.”
Jolie also found that working with Vivianne, whom she shares with ex-husband Brad Pitt, impacted the mother-daughter pair’s bond.
“As a mother, as a person, I was watching it, but I was really watching the effect it was having on my young daughter and what she was telling me about herself,” Jolie told Deadline earlier this month. “I was learning what about it was important to her and why it connected so deeply to her. “It was a very different experience of understanding, of how this is having a significant effect on her as a young person right now, and she’s communicating something to me.”
She continued, “That is the power of this material, which was in really good shape even by then. And then I had the privilege of watching everyone work over this last year to make it into what it is, and Vivienne has been there the whole way.”
The Outsiders was adapted from Hinton’s 1967 novel, following teenager Ponyboy Curtis and his “greaser” when they are at odds with the “Socs.” Francis Ford Coppola directed a film version in 1983 starring Tom Cruise, Rob Lowe, Patrick Swayze, Matt Dillon and more.
