NEW YORK (AP) 鈥� never expected to hit all the notes. But finding the breath of was enough to bring things out of Jolie that she didn鈥檛 even know were in her.
鈥淎ll of us, we really don鈥檛 realize where things land in our body over a lifetime of different experiences and where we hold it to protect ourselves,鈥� Jolie said in a recent interview. 鈥淲e hold it in our stomachs. We hold it in our chest. We breathe from a different place when we鈥檙e nervous or we鈥檙e sad.
鈥淭he first few weeks were the hardest because my body had to open and I had to breathe again,鈥� she adds. 鈥淎nd that was a discovery of how much I wasn鈥檛.鈥�
In Pablo Larra铆n鈥檚 which Netflix released in theaters Wednesday before it begins streaming on Dec. 11, Jolie gives, if not the performance of her career, then certainly of her last decade. Beginning with 2010鈥檚 鈥淚n the Land of Blood and Honey,鈥� Jolie has spent recent years while prioritizing raising her six children.
鈥淪o my choices for quite a few years were whatever was smart financially and short. I worked very little the last eight years,鈥� says Jolie. 鈥淎nd I was kind of drained. I couldn鈥檛 for a while.鈥�
But her youngest kids are now 16. And for the first time in years, Jolie is back in the spotlight, in full movie-star mode. Her commanding performance in 鈥淢aria鈥� seems assured of bringing Jolie her third Oscar nomination. (She won supporting actress in 2000 for 鈥淕irl, Interrupted.鈥�) For an actress whose filmography might lack a signature movie, 鈥淢aria鈥� may be Jolie's defining role.
Jolie's oldest children, Maddox and Pax, worked on the set of the film. There, they saw a version of their mother they hadn't seen before.
鈥淭hey had certainly seen me sad in my life. But I don鈥檛 cry in front of my children like that,鈥� Jolie says of the emotion Callas dredged up in her. 鈥淭hat was a moment in realizing they were going to be with me, side by side, in this process of really understanding the depth of some of the pain I carry.鈥�
Jolie, who met a reporter earlier this fall at the Carlyle Hotel, didn't speak in any detail of that pain. But it was hard not to sense some it had to do with her lengthy and ongoing divorce from Brad Pitt, with whom she had six children.
Just prior to meeting, a judge allowed Pitt鈥檚 remaining claim against Jolie, over the French winery Ch芒teau Miraval, to proceed. On Monday, a judge ruled that Pitt must disclose documents Jolie鈥檚 legal team have sought that they allege include 鈥渃ommunications concerning abuse.鈥� Pitt has denied ever being abusive.
The result of the U.S. presidential election was also just days old, though Jolie 鈥� special envoy for the United Nations Refugee Agency 鈥� wasn鈥檛 inclined to talk politics. Asked about , she responded, 鈥淕lobal storytelling is essential,鈥� before adding: 鈥淭hat鈥檚 what I鈥檓 focusing on. Listening. Listening to the voices of people in my country and around the world.鈥�
Balancing such things 鈥� reports concerning her private life, questions that accompany someone of her fame 鈥� is a big reason why Jolie is so suited to the part of Callas. The film takes place during the American-born soprano鈥檚 final days. (She died of a heart attack at 53 in 1977.) Spending much of her time in her grand Paris apartment, Callas hasn鈥檛 sung publicly in years; she鈥檚 lost her voice. Imprisoned by the myth she鈥檚 created, Callas is redefining herself and her voice. An instructor tells her he wants to hear 鈥淐allas, not Maria." The movie, of course, is more concerned with Maria.
It鈥檚 Larrain鈥檚 third portrait of 20th century female icon, following (with Natalie Portman as Jacqueline Kennedy) and (with Kristen Stewart as Princess Diana). As Callas, Jolie is wonderfully regal 鈥� a self-possessed diva who deliciously, in lines penned by screenwriter Steven Knight, spouts lines like: 鈥淚 took liberties all my life and the world took liberties with me.鈥�
Asked if she identified with that line, Jolie answered, 鈥淵eah, yeah.鈥� Then she took a long pause.
鈥淚鈥檓 sure people will read a lot into this and there鈥檚 probably a lot I could say but don鈥檛 want to feed into,鈥� Jolie eventually continues. 鈥淚 know she was a public person because she loved her work. And I鈥檓 a public person because I love my work, not because I like being public. I think some people are more comfortable with a public life, and I鈥檝e never been fully comfortable with it.鈥�
When Larra铆n first approached Jolie about the role, he screened 鈥沦辫别苍肠别谤鈥� for her. That film, like 鈥淛补肠办颈别鈥� and 鈥淢补谤颈补,鈥� eschews a biopic approach to instead intimately focus on a specific moment of crisis. Larra铆n was convinced Jolie was meant for the role.
鈥淚 felt she could have that magnetism,鈥� Larra铆n says. 鈥淭he enigmatic diva that鈥檚 come to a point in her life where she has to take control of her life again. But the weight of her experience, of her music, of her singing, everything, is on her back. And she carries that. It鈥檚 someone who鈥檚 already loaded with a life that鈥檚 been intense.鈥�
鈥淭here鈥檚 a loneliness that we both share,鈥� Jolie says. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 not necessarily a bad thing. I think people can be alone and lonely sometimes, and that can be part of who they are.鈥�
Larra铆n, the Chilean filmmaker, grew up in Santiago going to the opera, and he has long yearned to bring its full power and majesty to a movie. In Callas, he heard something that transfixed him.
鈥淚 hear something near perfection, but at the same time, it鈥檚 something that鈥檚 about to be destroyed,鈥� Larra铆n says. 鈥淪o it鈥檚 as fragile and as strong as possible. It lives in both extremes. That鈥檚 why it鈥檚 so moving. I hear a voice that鈥檚 about to be broken, but it doesn鈥檛.鈥�
In Callas鈥� less perfect moments singing in the film, Larra铆n fuses archival recordings of Callas with Jolie鈥檚 own voice. Some mix of the two runs throughout 鈥淢aria.鈥� 鈥淓arly in the process,鈥� Jolie says, 鈥淚 discovered that you can鈥檛 fake-sing opera.鈥�
Jolie has said she never sang before, not even karaoke. But the experience has left her with a newfound appreciation of opera and its healing properties.
鈥淚 wonder if it鈥檚 something you lean into as you get older,鈥� Jolie says. 鈥淢aybe your depth of pain is bigger, your depth of loss is bigger, and that sound in opera meets that, the enormity of it.鈥�
If Larra铆n鈥檚 approach to 鈥淢aria鈥� is predicated on an unknowingness, he's inclined to say something similar about his star.
鈥淏ecause of media and social media, some people might think that they know a lot about Angelina,鈥� he says. 鈥淢aria, I read nine biographies of her. I saw everything. I read every interview. I made this movie. But I don鈥檛 think I would be capable of telling you who she was us. So if there鈥檚 an element in common, it鈥檚 that. They carry an enormous amount of mystery. Even if you think that you know them, you don鈥檛.鈥�
Whether 鈥淢aria鈥� means more acting in the future for Jolie, she's not sure. 鈥淭here's not a clear map,鈥� she says. Besides, Jolie isn't quite ready to shake Callas.
鈥淲hen you play a real person, you feel at some point that they become your friend,鈥� says Jolie. 鈥淩ight now, it鈥檚 still a little personal. It鈥檚 funny, I鈥檒l be at a premiere or I鈥檒l walk into a room and someone will start blaring her music for fun, but I have this crazy internal sense memory of dropping to my knees and crying.鈥�
Jake Coyle, The Associated Press
