Angelina Jolie has describe the “frightening” assignment of portraying the late opera icon Maria Callas in her upcoming film Maria.
The biopic, which focuses on the final, tumultuous years of Callas’s life, premiered at the Venice Film Festival on Thursday, where Jolie admitted to feeling apprehensive about living up to the expectations of Callas’s fans and the opera community.
A Role Filled with Pressure
Jolie, who is usually known for her more powerful performances, admitted that the stress of playing such an iconic woman was almost too much. This is really all about meeting the expectations of maria callas fans and opera buffs,” she stated at a press conference prior to the film’s release. “My biggest fear was disappointing them.”
It is a movie directed by Pablo Larraín, a Chilean filmmaker, and is the last of his trilogy of the three iconic women, the first two being Spencer about Princess Diana and Jackie about Jacqueline Kennedy. Larraín has stated that only someone of Jolie’s magnitude could play Callas, a woman whose life and career still manages to draw in audiences one hundred years after her birth.
A Tribute to a Tragic Icon
Jolie spoke about her deep respect for Callas and her desire to honor the diva’s legacy. Callas, who died almost a recluse in Paris in 1977 at the age of 53, led a life full of great triumphs and great tragedies. Jolie admitted to spending almost seven months training for the part and worked hard to emulate Callas’s distinct voice and emotional presence. It is a moving with jolie’s voice and recordings of callas mixed in so they could really get the presence of the opera legend.
“I was terribly nervous about doing justice to her,” Jolie admitted. She drew on taped master classes from Callas to guide her performance, saying, “I got to be taught by Maria herself. “.
A Shared Vulnerability
Jolie expressed a personal connection to Callas, particularly to her vulnerability and sensitivity, qualities that often went unrecognized in the diva’s public life. “I probably share her softer side the most,” Jolie reflected. That side of her that was so incredibly soft and emotionally accessible but didn’t have a place in the world for her to be as soft as she really was.
Callas, despite her immense talent and contributions to the opera world, was often criticized for her voice as it began to falter later in her career. Jolie lamented the harsh treatment Callas received from critics, stating, “I think it’s quite sad. I wish she were here today to witness this generosity to her life. “.
A Star with Enduring Impact
Maria Callas remains one of the most celebrated opera singers in history, known for reviving 19th-century bel canto operas and delivering performances that left audiences in awe. However, Callas’s life was not only marked by greatness, but also by loneliness and heartache, which is what Jolie tried to bring across in her performance.
