Angelina Jolie cries after getting 8-minute standing ovation for 'Maria' at Venice Film Festival
Angelina Jolie was left emotional during the world premiere of her latest film, Maria, at the 2024 Venice Film Festival.
The biopic on Greek opera singer Maria Callas by Pablo Larraín received an eight-minute standing ovation at the Sala Grande Theater in Italy which left the American actress teary-eyed.
Jolie was seen wiping away tears and turning her face away from the crowd, according to a report from Variety. The entertainment outlet's editor-in-chief Ramin Setoodeh described the standing ovation as "the most rapturous applause" he had seen since Brendan Fraser's The Whale launched its Oscars campaign in the same event in 2022. The actress hugged Larraín and the rest of the cast.
ANGELINA CRYING FOR THE 10 MINUTES STANDING OVATION pic.twitter.com/Oc4DxY3zrK
— gab ♡ (@imnikkiheat) August 29, 2024
For the premiere, the Eternals star donned a beige strapless Tamara Ralph gown with fur on her sleeves.
In a press conference on Aug. 29, Angelina said that she prepared for her role in Maria by training with opera singers and coaches. She said that diving deep into opera was "therapy I didn't realize I needed."
"I had no idea how much I was holding in and not letting out," the actress told members of the press, according to Hollywood Reporter. "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."
Maria follows the life of the titular opera icon's final years in France in the 1970s. ICYDK, Callas is one of the most renowned opera singers of the 20th century.
Larraín has previously made biopics on iconic women in history, including Spencer (2021) on Princess Diana and Jackie (2016) on former US president John F. Kennedy's wife Jackie Onassis.