The Oscar-winning actress toplines the biopic, newly acquired by Netflix, as the famed opera star Maria Callas. Jolie seemed to be channeling the stage diva with her red carpet ensemble, which featured a perhaps surprising accessory in the brutal Venice heat: a faux fur stole.
With muggy temperatures soaring into the upper 80 degrees Fahrenheit, Jolie hit the scene outside Sala Grande wearing a stone chiffon draped asymmetric gown by designer Tamara Ralph, one of her frequent collaborators. If she was sweating, it didn’t show as Jolie took her time posing on the red carpet with her co-stars including Pierfrancesco Favino, Alba Rohrwacher and Kodi Smit-McPhee as well as auteur Larraín. She then did two red carpet interviews with local media personalities and then spent a fair amount of time making her way down the barricade to greet fans, pose for photos and sign autographs.
Once she made her way inside the theater, Jolie and the Maria team were greeted with a standing ovation prior to the screening. When the final credits began, the applause continued for an electric eight minutes that eventually brought Jolie to tears .
Jolie poses for the crush of festival photographers. Jolie wearing a monochromatic look by Tamara Ralph.
Back to the fashion: Jolie’s faux fur stole wasn’t her only surprising sartorial choice in the summer heat. When she arrived in Venice, Jolie was photographed at the airport looking every bit the movie star dressed for crisp autumn weather in a trench coat from the Dior fall 2024 collection paired with leather boots.
Her other festival looks have been much more breezy. She arrived at the Hotel Excelsior in a Saint Laurent sheer, sleeveless V-neck dress made from fluid silk. She also wore Saint Laurent for a Maria photo call and press conference, a black dress paired with a Cartier brooch. Both looks can be seen below.
Based on true accounts, Maria tells the tumultuous and tragic story of the life of one of the world’s greatest opera singers during her final days in 1970s Paris. The script was penned by Steven Knight . Jolie also made her first public statements on the project during a press conference held Thursday afternoon ahead of the screening. She apparently spent about seven months preparing for the challenging role, work that found her training with opera singers and coaches to master the posture, breathing and movement of a singer of Callas’ caliber. Diving deep into opera provided “therapy I didn’t realize I needed,” she told the press.
“I had no idea how much I was holding in and not letting out,” she continued. “So 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.” Asked what part of Callas she most related to, Jolie said, perhaps surprisingly, it was “the part of her that’s extremely soft and doesn’t have room in the world to be as soft as she truly was — as emotionally open as she truly was. I share her vulnerability more than anything.”
Jolie in Saint Laurent at a photo call for Maria . Jolie arrives at the Hotel Excelsior in Saint Laurent.
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