Angelina Jolie and Pablo Larraín bring 'Maria' to Venice | AP interview

When we need to fight, we fight for ourselves or for those we love or for our art. But I think deep down, there's a fragility that I identified with and a loneliness. Well, I want to know the answer to that. No, but I think I want to know this too. For me, the most tricky thing was to be me being her and us being a third character. Because it took me a moment to realize we would be performing all the operas. It feels very special. It feels a bit surreal knowing that she was here. It was 1951. Knowing how important Italy is for her, for music, for opera. It couldn't be more perfect. Yeah, there's a big, big meaning for the opera world. Whatever happens in Italy, happens to the opera. And she really looked forward to work here in La Fenice, in the opera house here. And then obviously in Rome, but most importantly in La Scala. So, it has a lot of meaning. And she came a number of times to this festival. And this is where she met Aristote Leonasi in 1957. So, it's all here. When I write my autobiography, I will title it, The Day Ferruccio Saved My Life. And what day was that? Every day. It was hard. I was really... I trained for months, but my first days... He was very good to me in that we started in a more intimate first with very few crew members. And we ended at La Scala with everyone. So, I had a little time to get my nerve together. But this is the hardest thing I've ever done. I was terrified. Because, you know, what it is, is that we can all sing like pop music, right? I could get into a car and sing, I don't know, a song from David Bowie. And do it reasonably well. Opera requires a very particular style of singing. The pitch, the color, the breathing, the posture. And all was a very extensive preparation. And it was the only way to do it. And we recorded Angie's voice. And we mix it with Maria in different levels. Sometimes it's a tiny bit of Angie and Moses, Maria. And then sometimes it's more, but it's always there. We needed to do that because it's the only way that she could properly prepare the character, play it right, and then create the right illusion. I think she's perceived one way. And I think her soul and her heart are very different than what her perception was. And I think that's where I may be connected to her the most. We're actually more fragile. And when we need to fight, we fight for ourselves or for those we love or for our art. But I think deep down there's a fragility that I identified with. And a loneliness. Do you think it's harder or easier now? I don't know. I mean, I didn't live then. I guess it's hard in different ways, easy in different ways. I think what might be fascinating to people is to realize what was still happening then, what you can't imagine was actually happening, the different things she went through, the lies about her, the attacks on her that I think we sometimes think of as modern. But all of it was there and present. She was celebrated as one of the most wonderful artists. And she also had food thrown at her and insulted and lied about. So, I don't know. She must have felt very alone. Pablo, was there a moment in the process where you were like, I made the right choice. I can just see Maria here. Was it a slow process or was there a moment that everything clicked for you and you were like, OK, this is going to work? Well, I want to know the answer to that. No, but I think it's, of course, a slow process. The preparation was very relevant. I think Angie got the character very quickly in terms of what I was looking for. But then, very early on the shoot, I felt, being behind the camera, that she had captured that presence, that sort of internal mystery that requires to play someone like her. I think Maria Callas is someone that captivated people, not only by singing, but also by hiding things. And I think to perform that type of character, you need to be able to let the audience understand you and see you and then don't, the opposite, to hide a little bit, make it more mysterious. And that dance of knowledge and feelings and sensibility, I think was captured by Angie very quickly. So I don't know exactly the day that it happened, but believe me, it did happen. It was very early on the shoot, yeah. I guess the same for you, in a way. Can you remember a particular scene or something when you really felt encompassed in her, and you really felt... I wouldn't have noticed you. I don't know. You know, there's so many different facets of her that I guess it was the different her that would come. When I started to feel her, what I think I connected first, because there's such a myth about her and there's so many images of her, when I put her big glasses on and her Greek hair, and I sat in my little robe as an older lady, I felt a her that felt like the private her that the world didn't know, and I connected to her first, and kind of loved her. And then I think I had to figure out how to... For me, the most tricky thing was to be me being her and us being a third character, because it took me a moment to realize we would be performing all the operas. And she was a great actress, so there was these... I think it was when somehow we were side by side performing a third thing, I felt her as an artist. I felt her as an actress. I would watch her choices as an artist. I would watch how she held herself, and I felt like she was teaching me how to perform. So there was the private her, and then there was the... And nobody can teach you better than her. She actually taught classes, so I had the great fortune of having audio of her explaining what you need to do to sing. So my best teacher was Maria. Yeah, a Juilliard, right? What it is, I think it's interesting, because one thing, obviously, is the Maria, the performer, the calas, but then there's the Maria in the domestic life. And this movie takes place mostly, or a lot of it, is inside of her apartment. And I think that's where you really capture something, when she's alone, when she's talking to her team, her people. And that's something there that, you know, is very intriguing and beautiful. Walk me a table at the cafe where the waiters know who I am. I'm in the mood for adulation. Would you say it's the most personal of the three that you've done, the three women that you've studied? How, for you, does this one fit into the three studies of three very interesting women? Yeah, it's interesting because the other two characters required a very extensive research for me, and obviously I was very interested in them. But Maria Calas is part of my education, of my formation, thanks to my family and my mother. So I grew up listening to her and then interested in her life, so it's part of my bloodstream, of my imagination, my, I don't know, desire for creativity, for aiming to any form of perfection. So, yeah, it's different. It's the story of an artist, a vulnerable artist, and I was always intrigued by her life. So, yeah, I could say that it's probably the most personal of the three of them, for sure. And what will you keep? What of Maria will sort of stay in your heart moving on from this film? I feel such an... I felt such a privilege to feel like I got to know this woman and got to be inside her skin a moment. I really care for her deeply. So I think I'll carry that, like a friend, like someone when I hear her, or when I hear someone talk kindly about her or positively about her great music, I feel happy that she's appreciated because I have a very warm connection to her. So, I don't know, I've learned a lot, more than I could probably explain, and she meant more to me and means more to me than I could probably explain. I think, like most people, I heard about the myth of her. I heard about her, you know, being a diva. I heard about her great music. I heard about her great talent. I heard about her love affairs. I heard about her... But I didn't really understand at all who this person was, and if anything, I hope that this film helps people to also connect to opera, which is, I think, quite an extraordinary art form and very special, but also to have a little more kindness and appreciation towards this human being.