Angelina Jolie steps into the shoes of opera legend Maria Callas in the new biopic Maria, directed by Pablo Larraín. The first trailer reveals Jolie’s emotional portrayal, showcasing her transformation into the famous soprano.

Still, Maria is a marvel to look at, unfolding in a Paris lit by pale September sun. It is 1977, and La Callas is a recluse, long gone from Covent Garden but never quite ruling out a comeback. Pills are popped. The butler frets.

Angelina Jolie admitted that she lied about her singing skills to land the role of opera singer Maria Callas in a biopic by director Pablo Larraín. Her performance in the role has already earned her a Golden Globe nomination.

At an intimate party in Soho recently, the designer Erdem Moralıoğlu introduced a screening of Maria (the Pablo Larraín-directed biopic centred around the last days of Maria Callas’s tumultuous life starring Angelina Jolie).

As Bono once commented about Luciano Pavarotti, “the opera follows him off stage”. Legendary soprano Maria Callas would have known exactly what he meant, and she herself said “an opera begins long before the curtain goes up and ends long after it has come down.

She’s the jewel, and I had to create the jewelry box.” The “jewel” for “Maria” production designer Guy Hendrix Dyas was Angelina Jolie who embodies the famed opera soprano Maria Callas in “Maria,” now streaming on Netflix.