Angelina Jolie to play American-Greek opera singer Maria Callas in 'Maria'
by Ana Walia | Fri, 21 Oct 2022 19:58:29 GMT
Angelina Jolie to play Maria Callas. Image Source: NBC News

Angelina Jolie to play Maria Callas.

According to various reports, Angelina Jolie is set to play Maria Callas, an American-born Greek opera singer, in Pablo Larrain's upcoming film 'Maria.'

According to a press release, 'Maria' by Pablo Larrain will be based on true accounts and will tell the tumultuous, beautiful, and tragic story of the world's greatest opera singer, remembered and recreated during her final days in 1970s Paris.

Steven Knight wrote the screenplay for the upcoming film, and Angelina Jolie stated that she takes her responsibility for Maria's life and legacy very seriously. The actress, who is currently working on her fifth film as a director, 'Without Blood,' said she is ready to give it to her all and face the challenges.

Angelina said Pablo Larrain is a director she has long admired, and having the opportunity to tell more about Maria Callas' story with him and Steven Knight's script is a dream. Pablo Larrain also expressed his excitement about working with Angelina Jolie, saying that having the opportunity to merge his two most deep and personal passions, cinema and opera, has been a long-awaited dream that is now coming true thanks to Angelina Jolie, a phenomenally brave and inquisitive artist.

Maria Callas. Image Source: Greek Reporter

Pablo Larrain directed 2016 film 'Jackie', starring Natalie Portman as Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, went on to earn actress Natalie Portman an Oscar nomination for Best Actress, while Kristen Stewart was nominated for the same award for 'Spencer' at this year's Academy Awards.

Maria Callas was a formidable force both on and off the stage. After her parents divorced, she relocated from New York to Greece to further her musical training. After only a few months of training, she was trying to sing the "most difficult arias in the global opera repertoire with the utmost musicality," according to her mentors. Maria was known for her versatility, as she could sing it all from Puccini to Wagner. Tragically, in her late 50s, her voice began to fade, essentially ending her career.

Maria was not known for her calm demeanor. She regularly clashed with filmmakers and castmates, and she had a bitter rivalry with another singer, Renata Tebaldi. The British opera impresario Rudolf Bing went on to describe Maria as being the most complicated star he had ever worked with, due mainly to "her superior intelligence. He said in the 1979 documentary Callas: A Documentary that other artists were easy to work with but one could not get around, Callas added that she knew exactly what she wanted and why she wanted it.

Maria Callas died of a heart attack in Paris in 1977, at the age of 53. Image Source: Opera Charm Magazine 

After marrying Italian industrialist Giovanni Battista Meneghini in 1949, she began a public affair with shipping magnate Aristotle Onassis after they met in 1957. Giovanni and she would not divorce until 1959. Maria and Aristotle never had children, and he divorced the singer for Jackie Kennedy in 1968. According to biographers, Aristotle pursued Maria on a regular basis for many years after. (Interestingly, Maria filmmaker Pablo also directed Natalie Portman's 2016 film Jackie, which was about Mrs. Kennedy-Onassis.)

Maria's only non-opera acting role after her voice faded was in Pier Paolo Pasolini's 1969 film Medea. In 1971 and 1972, she would give a series of masterclasses at the Juilliard School. Her last public performance was in 1974 in Sapporo, Japan. She died of a heart attack in Paris in 1977, at the age of 53. According to reports, writer Lyndsy Spence wrote a book titled “Cast A Diva: The Unknown Life of Maria Callas,” which details the shocking life stories of the opera singer including the fact that she had an abusive mother and she hated her because she worked as a prostitute during the war and tried to pass her onto the Nazi Soldiers.

RELATED ARTICLES