Angelina Jolie Reveals That Singing in Maria Caused Her Major Anxiety

Angelina Jolie‘s latest role as the titular character Maria Callas in Maria, a biopic about the opera icon’s life and career, caused the Oscar-winning actress a lot of nervousness as she was required to sing. As per a report by Deadline during the press conference for Maria at the Venice International Film Festival, Jolie detailed the months she spent training her voice for the singing required, and revealed details of the preparation preparation for the role. She explained that she trained for “almost seven months” and was incredibly nervous as she had never sung in front of anyone before, which added stress when filming the performance scenes at Paris’ La Scala theater.

“My first time singing I remember being so nervous. My sons were there, and they helped lock the door so that nobody else was coming in, and I was shaky.”

Jolie praised director Pablo Larraín for giving her the room to grow. Speaking of working with Larraín, she says with him, “you can’t do anything by half.” The filmmaker allowed Jolie to begin her performance in a relatively small room before moving up to La Scala theater, for which she was deeply grateful. Of her extensive preparation, Jolie adds:

“He demands, in the most wonderful way, that you really do the work, and you really learn and train.”

Larraín, meanwhile, revealed that he didn’t wish for the project to be a tragedy, but instead to tell a story of “a woman who spent her life singing for others, taking care of others, worrying about her relationships — now she’s ready to take care of herself and find her own destiny.” When asked about the Oscar buzz surrounding her performance, Jolie commented that she was focused on honoring Callas’ legacy, and that if there was praise, she would be grateful, but her focus was on not doing Callas a “disservice.” While Callas has often been referred to as the world’s greatest diva, Jolie revealed that she she found a new meaning to the word through her role.

“I really came to care for her, so I didn’t want to do a disservice to this woman.

I think I’ve relearned that word through Maria and I have a new relationship to it. I think it is often other people’s perceptions of a woman that defines who she is and what she intended.”

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Maria Has Now Been Picked up by Netflix

Maria follows the story of Maria Callas’ rise to fame as one of the most prolific opera singers of all time. It’s described as a “tumultuous and beautiful story of Callas’ career and life, relived and reimagined during her final days in the 1970s Paris.” Jolie will star alongside Pierfrancesco Favino, Alba Rohrwacher, Haluk Bilginer, Kodi Smit-McPhee, Stephen Ashfield and Valeria Golino. This marks Jolie’s first acting credit since her 2021 role in Marvel’s Eternals.

Netflix has now picked up the U.S. distribution rights to Maria, with Larraín releasing a statement and declaring his excitement over partnering with the streaming platform.

“I’m excited to partner again with the Netflix team who care so passionately about movies. This film is my most personal work yet. It is a creative imagining and psychological portrait of Maria Callas who, after dedicating her life to performing for audiences around the world, decides finally to find her own voice, her own identity, and sing for herself. I’m deeply honored to tell this story and share it with audiences worldwide like Maria did with her life.”