Angelina Jolie worried about disturbing her children working on the ‘Maria’ set

In one revealing interview with BBC NewsAngelina Jolie opened up about how filming her Maria Callas biography led to unprecedented emotional vulnerability with her children on set, especially sons Maddox, 23, and Pax, 21, who served as production assistants.

“They’ve seen me go through a lot of things, but they hadn’t seen me express a lot of the pain that a parent usually hides from a child,” Jolie told BBC News of her sons, who witnessed her portrayal of the troubled opera. legend. The typically private star added that the experience created “a new way” to be honest with her children about her feelings.

The Pablo Larraín-directed film “Maria” marks a significant return to starring roles for Jolie, with early buzz including a Golden Globes appearance suggesting potential Oscar consideration. The project required seven months of intensive operatic training for the actor, who admitted to being “quite shy about singing” before taking on the role.

“When the opera classes started, what it takes with your breath and your body and just the force of what you’re pushing through yourself, it’s just a very different physicality,” said Jolie, whose singing scenes mix her voice with original Callas recordings.

Director Larraín praised the contributions of both Maddox and Pax on set, with Jolie revealing that Pax recorded her early vocal training sessions. “It’s always good for your kids to see your mom not doing anything easy, but cursing and fighting and failing and having to try again,” she reflected.

Written by “Peaky Blinders” creator Steven Knight, “Maria” focuses on Callas’ final years in 1970s Paris. It had its world premiere in Venice, where it received an eight-minute standing ovation. The film’s premiere in New York City in September was attended by Maddox, Pax and their sister Zahara.