Angelina Jolie on the TV show "20h30 le dimanche"

I just need to understand you. It's my lucky day, it seems. Now I'm starting to have fun. Women and girls are still the majority of the victims of war. And the vast majority of the victims of rape. Tell me how it felt to be on stage. An exaltation. An intoxication. I thought the stage itself would burn. Your voice will not return. I am in control. I will sing when I am ready to sing. Yes, she did. Oh, that's lovely of you to say. It's very charming to say things like that. And I know how important Paris was to her. How much she liked to be here. I know she felt her... Not only did she choose to live here, but her life and her work was... well understood here as an artist. We want to know, when Pablo Larraín offers you this film, this biopic, did you say yes right away or did you think about it? I had a lot of admiration for her. I was a little nervous and it took me a few days to think about it, to say yes. Did she intimidate you, Maria Callas? Did she intimidate you during the shooting? During the shooting, I think I fell in love with her. During the shooting, I felt the woman who worked so hard. And who loved opera and loved music and arias and composers. I felt the artist. So I felt like I was spending time with this wonderful artist. But before I did the filming, very, very intimidated. You have seen, I imagine, some archives, several archives. There are some, they are exceptional, these archives. We will see some that will be shown. Diving into these archives is both dizzying. This is where you have scrutinized things. The gesture, the headwear, the way of moving, yes. Completely. And you know, she has changed a lot. She was a bit of a chameleon. She had a public image, a private image. She was someone who could sing Tosca on stage. In fact, there are many different Maria. But the Maria I prefer is the one we see here with her glasses, her dress. Because outside of all this life, she is a very human person. And we are going to listen to one of these archives, Maria Callas, who speaks. We are in 1970. Interview and you will talk after. On the whole, there are two people in me. I would like to be Maria, but there is the Callas that I have to live up to. So I'm coping with both as much as I can. So there is the question. Maria and on the other side Callas, but they are inseparable. It was also her strength to be both Maria and Callas. I think she had it. I think she was always wondering what the world would allow her to be. Was she ever enough? If she faltered just a little, she was very criticized. And I think people wanted like Callas. And at the end of the day, she's this woman. She's a woman who wasn't very loved by her mother. Who worked very, very hard to be an artist and be successful. And so I think she put a lot of pressure on herself. So she could be out there and seem at ease. Let's go back to these two characters. Before that, she had this sentence. She said, work, work, work, and then interpretation. You have worked a lot and worked your voice. For seven months, you wanted to understand what this work was. Oh yes. She says, you straightjacket yourself. You don't feel it. You don't put your own imprint on it. You just study it. You study it, study it, study it. And do it very technically, exactly as it is intended. And only when you have that perfection, are you allowed to put the personal on top of it. So I did what she said. You say that, and we understand it, that on the set, it could have terrified you to get on stage to sing. Because you sing. Because there was this audience and these rooms that filled up in front of you for the shoot. It must have been, yes, a source of deep anxiety. Oh, it was terrifying. It was terrifying. I had seven months before the filming started, and then I kept doing classes through it. I had to posture, breathing in Italian. Most of our audience are in Italian. And in order to record, to mix our voices, I had to sing with no sound. So I was in a room and I was not in a piano or nothing, just me alone. So I was very nervous. Please. The opera Garnier, 1958, an excerpt from the documentary by Tom Wolfe. We always find it hard to speak again after hearing it. As if she was inviting us to leave reality. Was that her magic? Oh, it really was. She was so deeply connected to the music. And so much that I think she was able to... You hear her music and it does take you somewhere. And that's what she wants. That's really what she wants. You say that this learning of the voice has also taught you about yourself, as a form of therapy. You have discovered that your voice may not have been the one you have been expressing for years, that it was lighter and less serious. Yes. They said, you're a soprano. And I said, that's not possible. I was told, but you're a soprano. I said, no, that's not possible. I always thought my voice was a bit deeper. And I was told, no, your voice is higher. And I did wonder if I had adapted it over my lifetime. Sometimes things happen to you, or you feel like in order to communicate, you get a stronger voice. But I think my voice is actually right. My natural voice is much higher and softer, probably. She said that her majordom and her bedroom wife were ultimately her whole family. Her destiny was stolen at the age of 13. I would have preferred to have a happy family and have children. I think that is the main vocation of a woman. But destiny brought me into this career. I couldn't get out and I was forced into it quite frequently. First by my mother, then by my husband. I would have given it up with pleasure. But destiny is destiny. And there's no way out. I think she would have loved... I think she needed love. Like we all do. But I think she grew up without having that from her mother. And I think that affected her greatly. I don't know if this woman could ever not be an artist. She's such a... I do think she would... I think family would have made her very happy. After these long months with her, what do you share with Calas? Her strength and her vulnerability? I'd like to think so. Maybe most of all, the vulnerability. In the end, we're both quite alone in a way. When I played her and I sat with her and I was alone and she was alone, I had the impression that it was in this space that we met. During the first screening of this film, I imagine that you had a kind of real pressure. To know, am I not betrayed? Will they see what I wanted to say about her? Here's the reaction in Venice during the screening of the film. At the end, watch. A long round of applause. You were relieved that day. I did. I think I was very moved knowing... I had to sit through the film and I usually don't. But you sit through it. I didn't watch the film until death. So I was sitting also sitting with her. And this person, at the end of her life, was not as supportive. At the end of her life, she fell. And at the end of her life, I tried against her. It wasn't for me. It wasn't just for the movie. It was for her. And that made it. Many questions. I'd like to just be... I'd like to be silly with her. I think she and I both probably would do the opposite of what you would think. Just laugh and be girls together. Because we probably don't always do that. I think so. I think I'd like to see her laugh. I think there will always be mystery. I think she spoke to us through her music. And I'd say, well, listen to her music. Let her work affect you. Let her speak through her music. Because that's what she chose. It's been years that it's been hard for her. It's also been years that a lot of people have been wondering about the mystery, Angelina Jolie. What do you say to them? Good luck? I'm still trying to understand much about myself. But there are six people in this world who know me well. I'm an artist and I'm a mom. But I'm a mom first. Well, I feel very fortunate to be able to be an artist. I've spent a lot of time recently. I've been home more than doing films. I've spent a lot of time at home recently. I've spent more time at home taking care of my children. Who have grown up now. So now I can spend a little more time at work. And I think it's a very great chance to be able to tell stories and play characters. It's a very fortunate profession. And I'm doing a film in France. It's the first time I'm doing a film in French. And I'm excited to do that. Well, I hope I'm the best as a mother. I hope I'm the best as a mother. Honestly, I'm in a transition period where I'm trying to be the best person I can be. Like a lot of people. I'm trying to understand myself better. We leave with a few notes from Carmen, the rebel bird of Bizet. Thank you, Angelina Jolie. Thank you for joining us tonight. Thank you for this interpretation of La Calasse. You love this woman. We understand that. Thank you. That's it for this interview recorded during Angelina Jolie's visit to Paris. Thank you, Angelina.