Angelina Jolie has been maintaining a personal balance in her rare works for some time: either highly commercial, like the Maleficent and Kung Fu Panda saga or her arrival at Marvel with Eternals, or completely personal, like Those Who Wish Me “Dead” or “Front to the Sea” (which she also directed and starred in with her now ex-husband Brad Pitt). All mixed with his entry into the world of fashion, his advertising commitments, his companies and his humanitarian tasks. But it seems that this balance will soon reach a middle ground between expectation, criticism and publicity, with a new association: the one that will unite her with the Chilean director Pablo Larraín, who has a personal and fresh look at characters well known to the public . Because in the filmmaker’s new film, Jolie becomes his protagonist, slipping into the role of the greatest lyrical star of all time: Maria Callas.
This Monday the only two images of Larraín’s next film, already in the production process and which will be entitled Maria, were released. It will recount the artist’s last days in Paris, where she died in September 1977. It follows the biopics that made her a household name in Hollywood cinema at the age of 47. In 2016 he rose to fame with Neruda, the screen biography of the Chilean poet that triumphed at film festivals, but above all with Jackie, his vision of the pain and trauma of the American first lady Jacqueline Kennedy after the assassination of her husband, the president. Natalie Portman brought the iconic character to life with such skill that she was nominated for an Oscar (which Emma Stone eventually won for “La La Land”).
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The high expectations continued when in 2021 he presented Spencer, a very personal portrait of Princess Diana of Wales starring Kristen Stewart, which focused on Christmas 1991, when the then wife of Charles of England decided to break away from the British to separate heirs to the throne. Once again, the lead character was golden: Stewart received her first Oscar nomination, although the statuette ultimately went to Jessica Chastain for The Eyes of Tammy Faye.
Angelina Jolie in the role of opera singer Maria Callas, in a promotional image for the film “Maria”, which will be directed by Chilean Pablo Larraín.Fabula Films
Now Larraín attempts to follow in the footsteps of complex historical female characters by transforming Jolie into the Greek diva. The 48-year-old actress will take advantage of this intimate portrait of the singer while seeking the critical acclaim she hasn’t had in years – and apparently hasn’t wanted – and which has earned her her third Oscar nomination and her second gold award little man (he achieved it with Interrupted Innocence in 2000 and came close with The Exchange in 2009; he also received an honorary award for his humanitarian work in 2013). At the moment, the physical resemblance is, as always, hard to find since this is a historical figure that has been seen and interpreted so often. She was brought to life by Fanny Ardant in Franco Zeffirelli’s 2002 Callas Forever; in Grace de Monaco it was Paz Vega in 2014; in the 1988 television film “Onassis: The Richest Man in the World,” American television doctor Quinn Jane Seymour.
Fanny Ardant and Paz Vega in their respective interpretations of the Greek opera singer Maria Callas.Cordon Press
“I am incredibly excited to begin production on Maria, which I hope will bring the remarkable life and work of Maria Callas to audiences around the world, thanks to Steven Knight’s magnificent script, the work of the entire Casting and crew and especially Angelina’s brilliant script work and exceptional preparation,” Larraín explained in a statement. Knight has already signed Spencer’s script (as well as “Dark Business,” for which he was nominated for an Oscar in 2004, “Peaky Blinders” and “Eastern Promises”) and completed it before the writers’ strike. The rest of the cast includes, among others, the Australian Kodi Smit-McPhee (The Power of the Dog, Elvis), the Italians Pierfrancesco Favino, Alba Rohrwacher and Valeria Golino and the Turkish Haluk Bilginer.
SPENCER, Kristen Stewart as Princess Diana, 2021. © Neon / Courtesy Everett Collection Courtesy Everett Collection / Cordon Press
Little is known about the production. Filming lasts eight weeks and takes place in Paris, Milan, Budapest and Callas’ home country of Greece. The clothing, as they explained in the film, will be based on real clothing that Callas wore, including leather clothing from the archives of costume designer Massimo Cantini Parrini, so as not to create new skins, in an agreement with the protector PETA. There is currently no planned or estimated release date. But it will be just the thing for Jolie to shine during awards season.
A still from “Jackie” by Pablo Larraín starring Caspar Phillipson as John Fitzgerald Kennedy and Natalie Portman as Jacqueline Kennedy.Fox Searchlight Pictures (ZUMAPRESS.com / Cordon Press)
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