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How Did Angelina Jolie Move Her Film Maria's Director Pablo Larraín To Tear? Actress Says She Was 'Burning Herself'
In a recent interview, Maria director Pablo Larraín admitted how pleasantly surprised he was with Angelina Jolie’s portrayal of the late opera singer.
Angelina Jolie is the lead in the upcoming biopic of opera singer Maria Callas’s tragic life. Although her life story isn’t a ghost story, the haunted essence added by Jolie and director Pablo Larraín is unorthodox. Using a non-linear narrative structure, it brings the phantoms of the musician’s past into the limelight.
In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, the director spoke about his experience working with Jolie and how surprised he was with her dedication. He started by praising her concentration and ability to carry the character even on the days that were a "roller coaster of joy and sadness."
He recalled the moment that particularly took him aback was when the Maleficent actress wasn’t on the screen during the take and yet appeared possessed by her character. “Angelina was there [for shooting]. We were both off-camera, but it was very moving. I think that determined a lot of what we did afterward,” he added.
According to him, Jolie’s compulsion to guide her character’s feelings completely “transformed” the process and allowed her to channel Callas’s essence. Some of the scenes required the actress to sing live with power and emotion while channeling her character’s heartbreak.
Larraín admitted that "sort of mix of demands and emotions was something very hard to do," but Jolie blew him away with her rendition. "I was in shock," he recalled. “I was moved to tears as I saw her burning herself to the point that I think it concludes the movie in an operatic way,” the director added.
While filming the final feature of the biopic with a twist trilogy — after 2016's Jackie based on Jackie Kennedy and 2021's Spencer based on Princess Diana — Larraín was searching for a surprising element from Callas’s life. The director poured himself into more than 10 biographies of the late musician.
Although most of the biopics revolved around her career decline and life-ending heart attack in 1977 Paris, Larraín identified some layers to her life that could be explored in the biopic. The director structured an intricate film revolving around the downfall of an icon and her identity through her voice that earned her La Divina title (translation: The Divine One).
“Maria Callas, the world's greatest opera singer, lives the last days of her life in 1970s Paris, as she confronts her identity and life,” says the official synopsis. Maria will hit the theaters on November 27.
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