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Venice Film Festival Prepares to Greet Angelina Jolie and 'Maria,' Her Film About Famed Opera Singer

FILE - Angelina Jolie appears at the 77th Tony Awards in New York on June 16, 2024. Jolie brings opera singer Maria Callas to life in “Maria.” (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP, File)
FILE - Angelina Jolie appears at the 77th Tony Awards in New York on June 16, 2024. Jolie brings opera singer Maria Callas to life in “Maria.” (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP, File)
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Venice Film Festival Prepares to Greet Angelina Jolie and 'Maria,' Her Film About Famed Opera Singer

FILE - Angelina Jolie appears at the 77th Tony Awards in New York on June 16, 2024. Jolie brings opera singer Maria Callas to life in “Maria.” (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP, File)
FILE - Angelina Jolie appears at the 77th Tony Awards in New York on June 16, 2024. Jolie brings opera singer Maria Callas to life in “Maria.” (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP, File)

Angelina Jolie has played an evil queen, a war correspondent, a hacker, an international spy and a sociopath and is now adding opera singer to her resume.
It’s not just any opera singer either: Jolie stars as the legendary soprano Maria Callas in a new film from Chilean filmmaker Pablo Larraín. “Maria” will have its world premiere in competition at the Venice Film Festival Thursday night, The Associated Press said.
Larraín, a Venice regular, continues his to explore the lives of very famous women with tragic narratives attached to them. In 2016, he came to the festival with his Jackie Kennedy portrait, “Jackie,” starring Natalie Portman as the first lady in the aftermath of her husband’s assassination. In 2021, he returned with Kristen Stewart playing Princess Diana as she considered divorce over the Christmas holiday in “Spencer.” Both films earned their leads best actress Oscar nominations.
“Maria” is the so-called conclusion to this trilogy of historical women, though Callas may be a bit less known to younger generations who weren’t around for the headlines and scandals. Born Maria Kalogeropoulos, to Greek parents in New York and made her professional debut in Athens as a 17-year-old.
During her brief life she became one of the greatest opera singers of all time with her unparalleled voice and stage presence; but the accolades also came with the intense scrutiny of her life in the public eye, whether it was her exacting demands and “diva” behavior, her weight or her romantic life. Callas famously had a relationship with shipping magnate Aristotle Onassis who left her for Jackie Kennedy.
She died in Paris at age 53 after a heart attack.
Larraín told Vanity Fair that Jolie trained for six months to prepare for the role. The singing in the film, which reportedly focuses on the final week of her life in 1977, is a blend of actor and the real thing.
Jolie has twice been nominated for acting Oscars. She won for her supporting role in “Girl, Interrupted," and was last nominated for her leading role in Clint Eastwood's “Changeling."
“Maria” was recently acquired by Netflix for distribution.
Jolie is expected to depart Venice before her ex-husband Brad Pitt arrives for the premiere of his film “Wolfs” on Sunday. Though legally single since 2019, they are still fighting over issues like custody, finances and a winery in France.
“Maria” is among the 21 features competing for the festival’s awards which will be announced on Sept. 7.

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Timothee Chalamet Channels Young Bob Dylan in 'A Complete Unknown'

FILE PHOTO: Timothee Chalamet attends a premiere of the film "A Complete Unknown" at Dolby theater in Los Angeles, California, US December 10, 2024. REUTERS/Mario Anzuoni/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Timothee Chalamet attends a premiere of the film "A Complete Unknown" at Dolby theater in Los Angeles, California, US December 10, 2024. REUTERS/Mario Anzuoni/File Photo
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Timothee Chalamet Channels Young Bob Dylan in 'A Complete Unknown'

FILE PHOTO: Timothee Chalamet attends a premiere of the film "A Complete Unknown" at Dolby theater in Los Angeles, California, US December 10, 2024. REUTERS/Mario Anzuoni/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Timothee Chalamet attends a premiere of the film "A Complete Unknown" at Dolby theater in Los Angeles, California, US December 10, 2024. REUTERS/Mario Anzuoni/File Photo

Timothee Chalamet likened his journey to playing music legend Bob Dylan to an athletic feat. It turned into a marathon that stretched longer than the actor had expected.
Chalamet signed up to play Dylan in 2019. Then came a global pandemic and labor strikes in Hollywood, forcing two extended delays to filming.
"A Complete Unknown," the movie about Dylan's quick rise to stardom in the early 1960s, will finally be released in theaters on Wednesday, Christmas Day, by Walt Disney's Searchlight Pictures.
The disruptions gave the "Dune" actor more time to work out how to translate the towering figure to the big screen. Chalamet learned to play guitar and harmonica and worked with a vocal coach to evolve from his smooth "Wonka" singing to Dylan's distinctive, nasal voice, Reuters reported.
"It was the most I've ever taken on," Chalamet said in an interview, comparing the preparation to "the climbing of a steep hill."
"A Complete Unknown" chronicles Dylan's arrival in New York in 1961 at age 19, his rapid ascent in folk music circles with songs such as "Blowin' in the Wind," and his divisive turn to electric rock music in 1965. The movie's title is taken from a line in the Dylan hit "Like a Rolling Stone."
Chalamet said he immersed himself in whatever video he could find of Dylan in the early '60s, a time of political and social upheaval in the United States.
"There's a finite amount of material available, especially in this period," Chalamet said. "At some point you can turn every page over. Not to say that I have, but if I haven't I've come damn close to it."
In the summer of 2023, Chalamet said, "I felt like I hit a runner's high" in the preparation.
"I felt like my muscles were strong and I was well prepared, and that every day was sort of just chipping away slowly at this bigger thing," he said.
Just as Chalamet was ready, Hollywood actors went on strike, and he worried that funding or casting might fall apart. The final go-ahead to start filming came in March 2024.
DYLAN WEIGHS IN
The real-life Dylan provided input on the script to director James Mangold but never met or spoke with Chalamet, though he recently described the star as "a brilliant actor."
"I'm sure he's going to be completely believable as me. Or a younger me. Or some other me," Dylan wrote on social media platform X.
Chalamet's performance has earned praise from critics and predictions that he could garner his second Oscar nomination. He and co-star Edward Norton were nominated for Golden Globes.
Other co-stars include Elle Fanning, who plays girlfriend Suze Rotolo who appeared on the cover of the album "The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan" but goes by the name Sylvie Russo in the film.
Monica Barbaro portrays singer Joan Baez, who had already landed on the cover of Time magazine when her career intersected with Dylan's. At the time, Baez was trying to figure out how to use her platform as an activist.
"Bob came in and was kind of a mess of a boy, but also an absolute poet and brilliant lyricist, and was putting words to all of these things that she felt," Barbaro said. "On top of his charisma, I think, she just was sort of magnetized to him."
Norton plays Pete Seeger, a banjo player and prominent singer of protest music who mentored Dylan.
"I think a lot of people have lost sight of who these people actually were and what they did and what they sounded like," Norton said. "If we can get some people tuning in again, that's probably worth the whole enterprise."
Chalamet agreed.
Dylan is "one of these names that is iconic to my generation," the 28-year-old said. "You know the name, but because he's such an elusive figure and a reclusive figure ... a lot of people my age don't know the music."
"This felt like an opportunity to be a bridge in some way and bring life to this amazing period," he added.