Academy Award-winning actress Angelina Jolie has made her feelings clear about the prospect of a biopic being created about her life. In a recent interview with The Sunday Times, the Maleficent star dismissed the idea, expressing strong reservations about having her life portrayed on screen.
When asked about the possibility of an autobiography or biographical film, Jolie responded with her characteristic candor, calling it the most wild question. She elaborated, sharing her perspective as a public figure and as an actress portraying real-life opera legend Maria Callas in her latest film. “When you’re a public person and you’re playing her (Maria Callas), you’re conscious of how you would hate for somebody to interpret your life or think they understand your life, so we tried to be thoughtful,” she explained. Jolie, now 49, concluded firmly, “Let’s hope there isn’t one about my life.”
This comment comes amid discussions about the challenges Jolie faced in preparing for her role in Maria, a film that premiered at the 2024 Venice Film Festival to an eight-minute standing ovation.
Intense Preparation for Maria
Directed by Pablo Larraín, Maria depicts the life of renowned opera singer Maria Callas, and Jolie underwent rigorous preparation to do justice to the role. Larraín shared insights into the extensive training process Jolie undertook to embody Callas’s unique physicality and vocal prowess.
“She trained for over seven months,” the director revealed. “There’s breathing, posture, and accent work. She sang in Italian and French, but mostly Italian. She worked on what in music is called pitch, which is the ability to hit each note and follow the melody. That was very challenging for her.”
Jolie herself acknowledged that aging presented its own hurdles in taking on such a demanding role. Despite these challenges, her performance has been widely praised, with the Venice audience giving the film an enthusiastic reception.
While fans may wish to see a film about Jolie’s own life, the actress has made it clear that her preference lies in thoughtfully portraying others, not in having her own story told on screen.
