That was one well-kept secret! Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt were officially husband and wife long before they tied the knot last summer, she recently revealed to Italian magazine Io Donna.
"Before the wedding in France with the kids, Brad and I were already married in California," Jolie, 39, revealed to the mag, which accompanies the Saturday, Jan. 10 edition of the Corriere della Sera. "As Americans, we couldn't marry legally in France."
The Unbroken director — who was in Italy on Thursday to meet the Pope at the Vatican — explained how the no-fuss nuptials went down.
"One day I said to Brad, 'Let's meet up at 4:30 pm?'" she told Io Donna. "I called a justice of the peace and we signed the documents." (As reported by Us Weekly, the couple obtained a marriage license from a California judge prior to exchanging vows at Chateau Miraval last August. The same judge also conducted their nondenominational civil ceremony.)
Before the couple of 10 years publicly confirmed their wedding news, a source told Us last March that Jolie claimed she was already married. "Every time I ask, she says she is already married," the insider said to Us at the time. Find out why Jolie thinks marriage to Pitt is hard work.
Still, the pair wanted to hold a formal ceremony for the sake of their six kids — Maddox, 13, Pax, 11, Zahara, 10, Shiloh, 8, and twins Vivienne and Knox, 6.
"It was very much a family affair," their rep later told Us about the wedding, which included designated roles for each Jolie-Pitt kid. (Eldest sons Maddox and Pax walked their mom down the aisle, Shiloh and Knox were ring bearers, and Zahara and Vivienne "threw petals from the garden.")
As for life as a wife? Jolie told Us Weekly last month: "It's been an amazing year. I married my love. My son [Maddox] became a teenager. And, I got to bring [Unbroken] to the world."
