Thornton revealed this fact in an exclusive interview on Saturday.
"We're good friends. We've been friends for years and years and years," the actor, 64, revealed at Tribeca TV Festival's presentation of Goliath on Friday, September 13. "So we keep up with each other. She's not in town a lot, so we don't see each other much, but we talk," said Thornton, while opening up to "Us Weekly".
Jolie and Thornton share a 20-year age difference. The 44-year-old actress had married Thornton, now 64, in May 2000. Their relationship had been rife with reports of wild tiffs and patch-ups, till they finally separated in 2002. Jolie and Thornton subsequently divorced in 2003.
Thornton had been Jolie's second husband, after a three-year marital relationship with actor Jonny Lee Miller, from 1996 to 1999.
Earlier this week, Jolie's now-defunct third marriage with Brad Pitt was in the limelight when her adopted son Maddox hinted at the fact that his relationship with Pitt was not okay. According to a report in "Metro.co.uk", a footage obtained by "In Touch Weekly" shows a reporter asking Maddox if Pitt would visit him at Yonsei University in South Korea where he is a new student. Maddox was non-committal: "I don't know about that."
( With inputs from IANS )