Hollywood actress Angelina Jolie was overcome with emotion during a lengthy standing ovation for her latest film Maria. The Oscar-winner was filmed wiping away tears from her face during the rapturous response to Pablo Larraín’s biographical drama about the Greek opera singer Maria Callas. The emotional standing ovation was reminiscent of the applause after the premiere of The Whale, which launched the Oscar-winning campaign and a career comeback for actor Brendan Fraser, in 2022.
Jolie plays the title role in Maria, which reimagines the singer’s final days in 1970s Paris, exploring the tragic events in the life of one of the world’s best-known sopranos. She wore a custom Tamara Ralph draped chiffon dress and a faux fur stole, paired with Aquazzura shoes and a red lip to the premiere.
At an earlier press conference, Jolie said that she has “relearned” the word diva through Maria Callas, who was known as “La Divina”. “I think it’s often come with a lot of negative connotations,” she said. “I think I’ve relearned that word through Maria and I have a new relationship to it. And I think it is often other people’s perception of a woman that defines sometimes too much who she is, and who she was, or what she intended. And I actually think she was one of the hardest working people, who didn’t hurt anybody.” “I suppose it’s everybody in this room that makes that definition,” she added.
Jolie also said she has “needed to be home more” with her family in recent years. The Lara Croft star, 49, has six children with Hollywood actor Brad Pitt, from whom she filed for divorce in September 2016. In May their daughter Shiloh Nouvel Jolie-Pitt became the first of their children to request a legal name change.
Jolie spoke about her acting career, and how it seems to have taken a back seat over the past few years. Asked how she is feeling, she said: “I’ve needed to be home more with my family these last years. And in that time, I’ve become maybe more grateful to have the opportunity to just be an artist and play and be among all of you, to just be in this creative world that we are all fortunate to be in some way a part of. So I’m happy to be here, and I’m grateful.”
In a Vogue interview last year, Jolie, known for starring in Maleficent and Girl, Interrupted, said she started doing less film work “seven years ago, only taking jobs that didn’t require long shoots”. Jolie and Pitt met on the set of action comedy Mr & Mrs Smith and were married in 2014. The details of their divorce have yet to be finalised. Pitt is expected to attend the film festival for a movie he stars in called Wolfs.
Maria Callas' Legacy and Jolie's Performance
The film, which has been acquired by Netflix for US distribution, focuses on the final week of Callas’s life in 1977, in Paris. The soprano singer is deeply isolated, with only her butler (played by Pierfrancesco Favino) and housemaid (Alba Rohrwacher) looking after her – concerned about her health, the drugs and the devastating ripple effects of her diminished voice. Jolie also revealed she trained for “almost seven months” to perform opera. She said she “had not sung in public” before and was “terribly nervous” about filming packed theatre scenes at Paris’s La Scala theatre. “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,” she said.
Callas, who was born Maria Kalogeropoulos to Greek parents in New York, made her professional debut in Athens as a 17-year-old and went on to become one of the greatest opera singers of all time with her unparalleled voice and stage presence. But she also faced intense public scrutiny of her exacting demands and “diva” behaviour, her weight and her romantic life. Callas had a relationship with the shipping magnate Aristotle Onassis, who left her for Jackie Kennedy. She died in Paris at the age of 53 after a heart attack.
The 'Diva' Label and Personal Connection
Jolie, who in recent years has been in the spotlight for her public and acrimonious divorce from Brad Pitt, said she found herself relating to Callas. The actor is expected to leave Venice before Pitt arrives for the premiere of his film, Wolfs, on Sunday. Though legally single since 2019, they are still fighting over issues such as custody, finances and a winery in France. “There’s a lot I won’t say in this room that you probably know and assume,” Jolie said with a laugh. “I related to the part of her that is extremely soft and didn’t have room in the world to be as soft as she truly was and as emotionally open as she truly was. I think I share her vulnerability more than anything.”
Larraín's Trilogy and Oscar Buzz
The festival’s director, Alberto Barbera, has previously said organisers had spaced out the former couple’s appearances. “Angelina will be there on the first day and will leave immediately afterwards with the director of Maria, Pablo Larraín, to go to Telluride,” he told Vanity Fair. “So Brad will arrive in Venice only on Saturday. There is no way they will cross paths at the Lido.”
The film completes Larraín’s trilogy of exploring women with tragic narratives. He previously came to Venice in 2016 with Jackie, a portrait of Jackie Kennedy starring Natalie Portman, and in 2021 with Spencer, which starred Kristen Stewart as Diana, princess of Wales. Both films earned their leads best actress Oscar nominations.
Asked about the potential Oscar buzz for the film, Jolie said she mainly cared about honouring Callas’s legacy and her fans. “My fear would be to disappoint them. If there’s a response to the work, I’m very grateful. But I really came to care for her, so I didn’t want to do a disservice to this woman.”
