Venice's Lido island sparkled with cinematic magic and star power as Angelina Jolie made a striking appearance at the 2024 Venice Film Festival. Amid the historic romance of the Italian city, the actress stole the spotlight in a custom-made beige gown styled with a luxurious fur stole. On Thursday night, Angelina was the toast of Italy during the world premiere of Maria, Pablo Larrain's biographical drama about the legendary opera singer Maria Callas. The film, which explores Callas's tumultuous life and final days in Paris during the 1970s, left the audience at the Sala Grande deeply moved. An eight-minute standing ovation followed the screening, and the actress, visibly emotional, can be seen wiping away tears and at times turning her face away from the rapturous applause.
The actress, who last contended for an Oscar in 2009, was comforted by her co-star Pierfrancesco Favino and director Pablo Larrain, who made a special effort to acknowledge the audience's support from the gallery.
ICYDK: Maria is the third installment in Larrain's trilogy of films about iconic women, following Jackie and Spencer. The film marks Angelina's return to the Best Actress race for the first time in 15 years. Netflix is set to release the film later this year.
At a press conference earlier on Thursday, the actress opened up about preparing to essay the iconic soprano Callas, which marked her first time singing in a role. On learning to sing opera, she said, "Everybody here knows, I was terribly nervous. I spent almost seven months training because when you work with Pablo you can't do anything in half. He demands, in the most wonderful way, that you really do the work and you really learn and train."