Angelina Jolie will play the role of the legendary opera soloist Maria Callas in the new biographical film by the Chilean Pablo Larraín “Maria”, reports Variety.com, cited by Agerpres.

The new film by the Chilean director will “explore the life of the legendary and controversial opera soloist, often called the first virgin.”

“Maria” is an independent production and will be filmed over 8 weeks in Paris, Greece, Budapest and Milan. The script, which was completed before the Hollywood writers’ strike, was signed by Stephen Knight, with whom director Pablo Larrain collaborated on the film “Spencer”.

In addition to Angelina Jolie, the cast also includes Pierfrancesco Favino (“Adagio”), Alba Rohrwacher (“Chimera”), Haluk Bilginer (“Winter’s Dream”), Cody Smith-McPhee (“Power of the Dog”) and Valeria Golino ( “Portrait of a Lady on Fire”).

“I am incredibly excited to begin work on Maria, a production that I hope will bring the amazing life of Maria Callas to audiences around the world, thanks to the wonderful script written by Stephen Knight, and the work of the entire cast. and the crew, and in particular the extraordinary work done by Angelina Jolie and the way she prepared for the role,” Pablo Larraín said in a statement.

Angelina Jolie’s costumes in the film are based on Maria Callas’ actual costumes, including fur coats from Massimo Cantini Parrini’s archival collection, after consulting with PETA to avoid using new fur.

Angelina Jolie will bring the turbulent life of Maria Callas to the big screen

The project to transfer the life of Maria Callas to the big screen was announced back in October of last year, but it took a year to work out all the details, including finding a production company.

Maria Callas, a Greek soprano of American origin, is one of the most famous opera singers of the 20th century. Born in Manhattan in 1923, she studied opera in Greece at the age of 13 before settling in Italy.

Over the years, the singer had to face myopia, which left her almost blind, and numerous scandals that shook both her personal and professional life: her rivalry with the Italian opera singer Renata Tebaldi or her affair with Aristotle Onassis, who later married Jacqueline Kennedy.