Angelina Jolie kicked things off at the Venice Film Festival, giving more insight into her upcoming film Maria.
During a press conference ahead of the film’s premiere on Thursday, August 29, the Oscar-winning actress opened up about preparing for the role of opera singer Maria Callas, admitting that she had a lot of nerves, but managed to pull through thanks to the help of some people very close to her.
“I was terribly nervous; I spent almost seven months training,” Jolie (49) said. “The first time I sang, I remember being so nervous. My sons were there and they helped block the door [so] that no one else was entering, and I was trembling.”
“AND [director Pablo Larraín]in his decency, he started me in a small room and ended up in La Scala,” she added. “So he gave me time to grow up. I was afraid to live up to it [Callas].”
Asked later at a press conference if she had a favorite song for karaoke, the actress joked: “I didn’t sing before this [movie] so I haven’t done karaoke, but now I might have a few!”
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Angelina Jolie arrives at Hotel Excelsior during the 81st Venice Film Festival on August 29, 2024 in Venice, Italy.
Stephane Cardinale – Corbis/Corbis via Getty
Angelina Jolie becomes opera singer Maria Callas in director Pablo Larraín’s first photos Maria
Maria is based on the true stories of Callas’ life and career and tells in detail the beautiful and tragic story of the singer, who is known as one of the greatest opera stars of all time.
Larraín, 48, continues with his biopic after Kristen Stewart as Princess Diana in Spencer and Natalie Portman as former First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis in Jackieand hopes for continued success with Jolie in Maria.
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Angelina Jolie, Maria Callas. Vittorio Zunino Celotto/Getty; Hulton-Deutsch Collection/CORBIS/Corbis via Getty
“I am incredibly excited to start production Mariawhich I hope will bring the extraordinary life and work of Maria Callas to audiences around the world, thanks to Steven Knight’s magnificent script, the work of the entire cast and crew, and especially, Angelina’s brilliant work and extraordinary preparation,” the director previously said in a statement.
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Angelina Jolie as opera singer Maria Callas in Maria (2024).
Pablo LarraÃn
Angelina Jolie arrives in Italy ahead of the premiere of her film at the Venice Film Festival Maria
Maria will mark Jolie’s return to the big screen after her last role in the 2021 superhero film. Eternals.
Jolie expressed her and her children’s excitement for the Marvel movie back in 2021, but later said Vogue in September 2023 that she was currently “in transition as a person,” adding, “I’m feeling a little down these days. I don’t feel like I’ve been myself for a decade.”
During a press conference on Thursday in Venice, she said: “I should have been more at home with my family in these last years, and in that time I may have become more grateful that I have the opportunity … to be in this creative world that we are all fortunate to be a part of. ”
The Venice Film Festival runs from August 28 to September 7.
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Source: HIS Education