SimplyAbuDhabi XLVII

A two-time Academy Award winner, Angelina Jolie stars as renowned opera singer Maria Callas in ‘Maria’, directed by Chilean filmmaker Pablo Larraín [‘Jackie’, ‘Spencer’] and written by Stephen Knight [‘Peaky Blinders’, ‘Dirty Pretty Things’]. It depicts the tragedy of the Greek- American singer’s final days, with flashbacks to the highs of her life, such as stealing the show as a last-minute replacement for another singer in Venice in 1949. ‘Maria’ marks a return to the limelight for Jolie, who spoke with us in New York City about the experience she had making ‘Maria’, the preparation she did for the part, her relationship to her character, what she hopes audiences get from the movie and more… This is such an incredible performance – congratulations, Angelina. What has portraying the iconic Maria Callas – and the great reception the film had - meant to you? ANGELINA JOLIE : Part of is, I feel like I’m with Maria. She’s one of us - she’s an artist. One of the things that happened was, when I first was researching her, I read a lot of the last reviews, and they were so terribly mean. So I thought about that a lot and learned about this time in her life when she was mostly alone and finally listening to her music. And she had tried to have this comeback, and she tried to perform again, and show how much it meant to her to connect to an audience and perform. And they really, especially the critics, didn’t give her space. And so there’s a part of me that felt, ‘Okay. We’re going to have this last bow.’ I wanted so much for people to care about her and give her a little bit more space and understand her life. So, when it was received well, I feel like she’s finally been understood a little bit more. And so that makes me extremely happy. Because I think she deserved it. I think she was a woman in a lot of pain. And I think she was a good woman who really cared and was committed to being an artist. You met director Pablo Larraín years before he actually approached you to star in this project, is that correct? AJ : Yes, I had seen ‘Neruda’ and I was aware of his work. I think he has a gift: some directors are really great with the visuals and scope, and their films are stunning and cool, but they’re not necessarily the ones that are great with actors. And he has this wonderful ability to focus equally on both at all times. I recognised that when I saw his work. He’s really interested in the map of the human being, and also can make a beautiful frame and demonstrate his love for cinema. He grew up listening to opera. His mom tells this story, that he would go to the opera and then his momwould say to him, ‘That was wonderful, but now I want you to hear Maria Callas’. So it was this woman and his mother and this music. And so, in many ways, if you look closely, this is an opera. This is Pablo’s opera. And that’s quite cool. Angelina Jolie onMaria Callas and living an authentic life “I wanted somuch for people to care about her and understandher life”. By Jenny Davis Simply Abu Dhabi | 61