The first photos of Angelina Jolie in the biopic dedicated to opera singer Maria Callas have just been revealed.
After Jackie, a film centered on Jackie Kennedy with Natalie Portman in the title role, and Spencer in which Kristen Stewart plays Princess Diana, Chilean director Pablo Larraín unveils the first images of his new biopic: Maria, inspired by the life of the famous opera singer Maria Callas.
And it is Angelina Jolie, rarely seen on the screens in recent years, who plays Callas. The film tells the tragic life story of the world’s greatest opera singer, relived during her final days in 1970s Paris.
If the resemblance between the two women is not striking, the look and the outfits, based on the original clothes of the famous Greek soprano, give the American actress an air of the Diva.
After an agreement signed with the actors’ union SAG-AFTRA – still on strike – the shooting of this independent film will be able to begin between Paris, Budapest, Milan and Greece.
Angelina Jolie, who has not appeared on screen since the thriller Those Who Want Me Dead in 2021, plays opposite Valeria Golino, who lends her features to her “rival” Jackie Kennedy, and to Haluk Bilginer, who plays the Greek billionaire Aristotle Onassis, having abandoned Callas for the former First Lady of the United States. Alba Rohrwacher, Pierfrancesco Favino and Kodi Smit-McPhee are also in the cast.
Asked by The Hollywood ReporterPablo Larraín said to himself “incredibly excited to begin production on Maria“. The latter adds:
“I hope it 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 cast and crew, and above all the work brilliant and with the extraordinary preparation of Angelina“.
In 2002, the French actress Fanny Ardant already slipped into the skin of the singer in Franco Zeffirelli’s film, Callas Forever, and in 2017, Tom Volf unveiled the documentary Maria by Callas, on the life of the Diva.