Angelina Jolie’s Transformative Journey to Embody Maria Callas in Upcoming Biopic
As the world eagerly awaits the release of Pablo Larraín’s highly anticipated biopic “Maria,” Angelina Jolie has unveiled the profound challenges she faced in capturing the essence of the legendary opera singer, Maria Callas.
In a candid interview, Jolie, who portrays the tragic and enigmatic Callas, revealed that the toughest aspect of the role was learning to “breathe again” – a testament to the depths she had to explore to inhabit the character fully.
“All of us, we don’t realize where things land in our body over a lifetime of different experiences and where we hold it to protect ourselves,” Jolie shared. “We hold it in our stomachs. We hold it in our chest. We breathe from a different place when we’re nervous or we’re sad.”
The actress, known for her commanding on-screen presence, admitted that the first few weeks of preparing for the role were the most challenging, as her body had to adapt to the natural rhythms of Callas’ breath.
“The first few weeks were the hardest because my body had to open, and I had to breathe again,” Jolie explained.
This transformative process, which Jolie likened to “opening up” parts of herself that she hadn’t previously accessed, has resulted in a performance that is being hailed as one of the defining roles of her career.
Jolie’s immersion in the character also had a profound impact on her own children, Maddox and Pax, who witnessed a side of their mother they had never seen before.
“They had certainly seen me sad in my life. But I don’t cry in front of my children like that,” Jolie revealed, adding that the emotional intensity of the role made her realize the depth of the pain she carries within herself.
The film, which explores the final days of Callas’ life, is the third in Larraín’s series of portraits exploring 20th-century female icons, following “Jackie” and “Spencer.”
Jolie’s ability to embody the regal, self-possessed diva while also conveying the fragility and loneliness that plagued Callas has already generated significant Oscar buzz, hinting at the potential for the actress to earn her third Academy Award nomination.
