Is Angelina Jolie Singing in ‘Maria’? How the Netflix Movie Recreated Maria Callas’s Voice

If you want to portray the iconic opera singer Maria Callas in a film, you need to be able to sing well or be exceptionally skilled at pretending to do so. In the Netflix movie Maria, which started streaming today, Angelina Jolie embodies Callas, displaying both singing talent and acting prowess.

Directed by Pablo Larraín, known for biopics on iconic women like Jackie and Spencer, Maria delves into the life of Greek opera sensation Maria Callas. Callas was renowned for her exceptional voice, diva persona, health issues, and romantic controversies. The movie chooses to spotlight the final chapter of her life, spent in isolated seclusion in 1970s Paris, leading up to her untimely death from a heart attack at the age of 53 in 1977.

Despite Maria focusing on the later years of Callas’s life, well past her singing prime, the storyline primarily revolves around the singer’s efforts to regain her vocal prowess. This required Angelina Jolie to undertake extensive singing for the role.

Angelina Jolie in Maria, next to a photo of the real Maria Callas
Photo: Netflix, Getty Images

Angelina Jolie really is singing opera in Maria, but it’s not only Jolie’s voice in the final product. The movie blended Jolie’s singing voice with recordings of the real Maria Callas, so the result is a hybrid of both Jolie and Callas’s voice.

“We recorded [Jolie’s] voice, her breathing, everything,” director Pablo Larraín explained in an interview for the Maria press notes. “There are moments in the film when you hear Maria Callas in her prime, when most of what you hear is Callas, but there’s always a fragment of Angelina. And then sometimes, it’s more Angelina than Callas. It’s a multilayered track that has different voices. So, Angelina really had to go for it not only because it made the movie more possible in terms of the illusion, but to also create the right process for her as an actress.”

In other words, even though it’s not purely Jolie’s voice that you hear in the film, Jolie still had to learn how to sing opera—and she had to learn how to sing it well.

Angelina Jolie as Maria Callas and Director Pablo Larraín on the set of Maria.
Angelina Jolie as Maria Callas and Director Pablo Larraín on the set of Maria. Photo: Pax Jolie-Pitt/Netflix

“Angie had different stages in her preparation,” Larraín in that same interview. “At the start, it was with opera singers and coaches who helped her have the right posture, breathing, movement and the accent. She was singing very specific operas or arias, and most of them are in Italian. You have to sing it properly and get to the right pitches, and that means being able to follow the melody and sing it properly.”

Larraín went on to explain that Jolie would sing along with Callas’s recording, and try to match it as closely as possible.

MARIA. BTS - (L to R) Angelina Jolie as Maria Callas and Director Pablo Larraín on the set of Maria.
Photo: Pablo Larraín/Netflix

“There isn’t a miracle kind of technology here,” the director said. “Angelina was absolutely exposed to singing, sometimes in front of 200 people, or 500 extras, and she had to sing out loud by herself, and all people would hear was Angie’s voice alone. I would have my headphones on, I would listen to the orchestration, a little bit of Callas, and a little bit of Angie, so I was sort of mixing live. But she was metaphorically naked, voice wise, in front of hundreds of people.”

For her part, Jolie said that in learning to sing opera, “the challenge wasn’t the technical, it was an emotional experience to find my voice, to be in my body, to express. You have to give every single part of yourself. When opera singers express pain, it’s not like a little bit, it’s the biggest depth. It requires everything that you’ve got. It requires your full body, and it requires you to be full emotionally, as open and as loud, in as big a voice as you can possibly do.”

And the star was more than happy to star the stage with the late opera singer. “It would be a crime to not have her voice through this, because in many ways, she is very present in this film,” Jolie said in an interview for the movie’s press notes. “Her voice and her art are very present. She’s the partner in this film with me; she and I are doing this together. It was an honor and sometimes a bit of a head trip to be me playing her, and us playing a third person on stage.”

(function(d, s, id) {
var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0];
if (d.getElementById(id)) return;
js = d.createElement(s); js.id = id;
js.src = “//connect.facebook.net/en_US/sdk.js#xfbml=1&appId=823934954307605&version=v2.8”;
fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs);
}(document, ‘script’, ‘facebook-jssdk’));

You May Also Like
Georgia and Alabama suspects make plea in sextortion scam that led to suicide of Michigan teen

Suspects from Georgia and Alabama plea in sextortion case linked to suicide of Michigan teenager

This article addresses the topic of suicide. If you or someone you…
Lithuanians bid farewell to 4 US soldiers who died during training exercise

Lithuanians pay their respects to 4 US soldiers who lost their lives during a training exercise

VILNIUS, Lithuania — Thousands of people in Lithuania, including political and religious…
'Oklahoma City Bombing: One Day in America': New National Geographic docuseries gives unprecedented look at tragedy

New National Geographic series explores the Oklahoma City bombing in detail

PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) — Thirty years ago, the deadliest act of domestic terrorism…
Cubs opening day: Wrigleyville community preparing for Chicago Cubs home opener baseball game at Wrigley Field

“Wrigleyville Gears Up for Chicago Cubs’ Home Opener at Wrigley Field”

CHICAGO (WLS) — The Chicago Cubs finally have their home opener Friday…
Trump Shows Off Declaration of Independence Now Hanging Prominently in the White House

Dusty Atmosphere: WWII Veteran and MAGA Supporter Seeks Special Guest for 104th Birthday Celebration

A 104-year-old WWII veteran from Ohio is getting ready to celebrate his…
2 Jewish students file lawsuit against Chicago's DePaul University for negligence after Lincoln Park campus attack

Lawsuit Filed by 2 Jewish Students Against DePaul University for Negligence Following Attack on Lincoln Park Campus

CHICAGO (WLS) — Max Long and Michael Kaminsky were blindsided in an…
Liberation Day: Trump Was Right About Everything, and That Is What the So-Called Experts Resent the Most

Trump’s Accuracy on Liberation Day is What Experts Dislike the Most

President Donald Trump recently declared “Liberation Day” for America in the White…
White Lotus star Carrie Coon claps back at Meghan McCain in ugly spat over her support of Trump

Carrie Coon from “White Lotus” responds to Meghan McCain in heated disagreement regarding her endorsement of Trump

The White Lotus star Carrie Coon has clapped back at Meghan McCain amid the…
Teddi Mellencamp Confirms She Has Stage 4 Melanoma In Emotional Interview After Cancer Spread To Her Lungs And Brain

Teddi Mellencamp Reveals Stage 4 Melanoma Diagnosis in Emotional Interview After Cancer Spreads to Lungs and Brain

Reality TV personality Teddi Mellencamp from the show Real Housewives of Beverly…
Tufts University student arrest: Top Dems want answers from Noem, Rubio, ICE on 'deeply troubling' incident

Students Arrested for Antisemitism on Campuses: A Summary of Trump’s Actions against College Crackdown

Federal authorities have arrested college students and professors at various universities in…
Hootie and the Blowfish fans stunned to learn the true meaning of the band's iconic name

Fans of Hootie and the Blowfish surprised by discovery of band’s iconic name’s real significance

During a night of revelry at university in the mid-1980s, Hootie and…
National Burrito Day 2025: How to score free food from Chipotle, QDOBA, Moe's, and more

How to get free food from Chipotle, QDOBA, Moe’s, and other restaurants on National Burrito Day 2025

Fans nationwide can celebrate National Burrito Day at one of several beloved…