Angelina Jolie ‘terribly nervous’ about playing opera diva Maria Callas in new film

VENICE – Angelina Jolie confessed she was afraid of not being able to “live up” to Maria Callas’ legend in her new biopic about the great diva’s extraordinary yet tragic life.

In Maria – which premiered at the Venice Film Festival on Aug 29 – the American movie star tackles the tormented final years of the 20th century’s most celebrated opera singer, who mesmerised audiences around the world.

“The bar in this... are the Maria Callas fans and those who love opera,” Jolie told a press conference ahead of the premiere of the movie by Chilean director Pablo Larrain. “And my fear would be to disappoint them.”

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

Jolie, 49, said she hoped to honour the legacy of the diva, who died nearly alone in 1977 aged 53, after a whirlwind life and career that was nevertheless marked by great sadness.

The much-anticipated highlight of the festival’s second day was the last in Larrain’s trilogy of movies about iconic women – after Spencer (2021) about Britain’s Princess Diana and Jackie (2016) on former United States first lady Jacqueline Kennedy.

Larrain has said only a larger-than-life star in her own right could play the role of the America-born Greek singer, whose successes at La Scala, La Fenice, Covent Garden and New York are the stuff of opera legend 100 years after her birth.

“This movie would not have existed without Angelina,” he said.

Absent from the screen since 2021, the American actress and director has kept a relatively low profile even as her lengthy, acrimonious divorce from American actor Brad Pitt continues to make headlines.

The public’s fascination with Jolie’s private life has parallels with Callas, whose stormy life and loves – including her relationship with Greek shipping magnate Aristotle Onassis, who left her for Mrs Kennedy – were similarly fodder for the tabloids.

But while the paparazzi were out in full force on Aug 29 for Jolie on the red carpet – in a camel gown with matching faux-fur shrug – the actress will not cross paths with Pitt, 60, during her visit.

Pitt’s action comedy Wolfs, in which he and American actor George Clooney play rival professional fixers, is playing out of competition on the Lido on Sept 1, as purposely planned by festival organisers to avoid awkward encounters.

Living up to Callas

One of 21 films in competition for Venice’s prestigious Golden Lion prize, Maria opens with a whirlwind edit of the highlights of Callas’ life as seen through the eyes of the paparazzi, with Jolie singing Casta Diva in Paris in her red silk wrap, accepting ovations at Italian opera house La Scala or frolicking with Mr Onassis on his yacht.

In reality, the frail artiste is popping sedatives and remembering those heady days of her life – most of them onstage – through drug-induced flashbacks, in the tour-de-force performance by Jolie.

“Music is born of distress,” says Callas, as she vainly struggles to find her faltering voice yet again, sheltering at home in the company of her trusted butler and housemaid (played by Italian actor Pierfrancesco Favino and actress Alba Rohrwacher) and occasionally breaking the monotony to sit alone in cafes to “be adored”.

Jolie said she studied for nearly seven months ahead of filming, training herself to mimic the great artiste’s cadences and tones as the film mixes in her own singing voice with that of the celebrated soprano. “I was terribly nervous,” Jolie said. “I was frightened to live up to her.”

Jolie said she related to Callas’ gentler side, “the part of her that’s extremely soft and doesn’t have room in the world to be as soft as she truly was, and as emotionally open as she truly was”.

“I share her vulnerability more than anything.”

Loneliness and pain

While some critics found flaws with Callas’ voice, it was nevertheless deeply expressive, able to impart dramatic intensity to any role, which – combined with her beauty and presence – often brought frenzied standing ovations.

A towering talent with a tireless work ethic, Callas was often portrayed as a “temperamental” star, a label she rejected, defending herself as a disciplined perfectionist with high standards.

She single-handedly revived the 19th-century bel canto operas of Italian composers Gaetano Donizetti, Gioachino Rossini and Vincenzo Bellini – whose Norma (1831) was one of Callas’ signature roles.

But the diva’s voice began to fail and, even as she struggled to rekindle it, the “critics were so cruel”, said Jolie.

“I don’t know if she passed knowing that she did her best and she was appreciated and loved. I think she may have died with a lot of loneliness and pain.” AFP