VENICE, Italy — For Angelina Jolie, portraying the famous opera singer Maria Callas meant more than she can put into words.
“I felt so privileged to meet this woman and be able to walk in her shoes for a moment. She is really close to my heart,” Jolie told the Associated Press hours after the film’s world premiere at the Venice International Film Festival on Thursday. “I think I’m going to wear this like a friend.”
Chilean filmmaker Pablo Larraín tapped Jolie to play the legendary soprano in Maria, which was recently acquired for distribution by Netflix. The film focuses on the last week of her life in 1977 Paris. She is deeply isolated, with only her butler (Pierfrancesco Favino) and maid (Alba Rohrwacher) to care for her – concerned about her health, medication and the devastating effects of her diminished voice.
A regular guest at Venice, Larraín continues to explore the lives of very famous women with tragic stories attached to them. In 2016, he came to the festival with his Jackie Kennedy portrait, “Jackie,” in which Natalie Portman plays the First Lady after her husband’s assassination. In 2021, he returned with Kristen Stewart, who plays Princess Diana, who is considering divorce over the Christmas holidays in “Spencer.” Both films earned their leading actresses Oscar nominations for best actress.
“Maria” is the so-called conclusion to this trilogy of historical women, although Callas may be a little less well known to younger generations who have not experienced the headlines and scandals. Born Maria Kalogeropoulos in New York to Greek parents, the singer made her professional debut as a 17-year-old in Athens.
During her short life, she became one of the greatest opera singers of all time with her incomparable voice and stage presence. But with the accolades came intense public criticism of her life, whether for her high standards and “diva” behavior, her weight or her love life. Callas famously had a relationship with the shipping magnate Aristotle Onassis, who left her for Jackie Kennedy.
She died of a heart attack in Paris at the age of 53.
“When I put on her big glasses and her Greek hair and sat there in my little bathrobe as an older lady, I felt a (Maria) that felt like the private (Maria) that the world didn’t know,” Jolie said. “And I felt connected to her at first and kind of loved her.”
Jolie made a grand entrance on the docks of the Excelsior Hotel on the Lido, posing for photographers in a gold Tom Ford acid-coloured jersey kaftan dress and long loose hair. For the press conference, she changed into a slim black maxi dress.
She hesitated to compare the fame of Callas’s time with the present.
“I wasn’t living then. I guess it was hard in different ways and easy in different ways,” Jolie said. “She was celebrated as one of the most wonderful artists, and she was also being thrown food at, insulted and lied to. So, I don’t know. She must have felt… she must have felt very alone.”
Jolie trained for nearly seven months to prepare for the role. The singing in the film is a mix of acting and real singing.
“My first days (Larraín) were very good for me because we started in a more intimate setting with very few crew members,” said Jolie. “And we finished filming with everyone at the Scala. So I had a little time to get my nerves together. But this is the hardest thing I’ve ever done. I was terrified.”
Larraín said this was “the only way to do it.”
“The opera requires a very particular style of singing – in the pitch, the color, the breathing, the posture,” he said. “Sometimes it’s a little bit of Ange and mostly Maria and then more, but it’s always there. We had to do that because it’s the only way she can prepare the character properly, play it properly and then create the right illusion.”
Jolie has been nominated twice for an Academy Award for Best Actress. She won for her supporting role in “Girl, Interrupted” and was most recently nominated for her leading role in Clint Eastwood’s “Changeling.” Netflix has not yet announced any specific plans for the release of “Maria,” but Jolie’s performance is already generating plenty of awards buzz.
The actress is also expected to leave Venice before her ex-husband Brad Pitt arrives on Sunday for the premiere of his film “Wolfs.” Although they have been legally single since 2019, they still argue over issues such as custody, finances and a vineyard in France.
At a press conference on Thursday afternoon, a journalist asked Jolie if there were any surprising similarities between her and Callas.
“There’s a lot I won’t say in this room that you probably know or suspect,” Jolie said. But she feels like they both share a certain softness and vulnerability.
The film also made her rethink her idea of the word “diva.”
“Through Maria, I learned the word anew,” she says. “And I have a new relationship with it.”
Larraín added: “Whatever we think about a diva, there would never be a diva if what she does wasn’t outstanding.”
“Maria” is one of 21 feature films competing for the festival’s awards, which will be announced on September 7.
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For more coverage of the 2024 Venice Film Festival, visit https://apnews.com/hub/venice-film-festival.
