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
'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…
Lol – Mike Pence to Receive 2025 JFK Profile in Courage Award for Certifying 2020 Election Results

Mike Pence to be Awarded 2025 JFK Profile in Courage Award for Certifying 2020 Election Results

The recipient of the 2025 John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award…
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…
Brick-wielding woman bashes Tesla as Boston police hunt suspected street menace

“Woman wielding brick damages Tesla in Boston as police search for suspect”

The Boston Police Department (BPD) is seeking assistance from the public to…
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…
Trump urged to review UN immunity, lax visa rules amid national security concerns

Request for Trump to reassess UN immunity and relaxed visa regulations due to national security worries

An agreement from 1947 that specifies the responsibilities of the United Nations…
University of South Carolina student, 21, killed in hit-and-run crash involving illegal immigrant: DHS

DHS: Illegal immigrant involved in hit-and-run that killed 21-year-old South Carolina student

A hit-and-run incident near the University of South Carolina claimed the life…
Motorcyclist dragged in road rage incident in Southern California caught on video

Video captures road rage incident in Southern California where a motorcyclist is dragged

In Riverside, California, a motorcyclist’s helmet camera captured a frightening incident of…
Terrifying tornado outbreak across America's heartland as six states are issued very rare weather warning

Unusual weather warning issued for six states as terrifying tornado outbreak strikes America’s heartland

Numerous tornadoes ripped through the Midwest on Wednesday evening, causing widespread destruction…
NYC Mayor Eric Adams says he's leaving Democratic primary to run for re-election as a independent

New York City Mayor Eric Adams switches from Democratic primary to run for re-election as an independent

New York City Mayor Eric Adams announced he will run his re-election…
Power Plays: Alaska Democrats Are Trying To Find an Election Mary Peltola Can Win

Alaska Democrats Striving to Secure a Winning Election for Mary Peltola

Alaska has an interesting political landscape. Historically, we have consistently supported Republican…
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…