Angelina Jolie is one of the most talked-about women in the world, returning to our screens this month with her new (and already critically-acclaimed) film, Maria.
The upcoming Netflix release is a powerful biopic of famed opera singer Maria Callas, with Jolie’s portrayal of the titular role already earning her Oscar predictions and an eight-minute standing ovation at the Venice Film Festival.
The 49-year-old has opened up about the filming experience in the film’s run up, with the biopic covering themes of abuse. And with her two eldest sons, Maddox, 23, and Pax, 21, worked on the set, Jolie explained that her children were exposed to emotions that as a parent she would usually keep private.
“It really meant a lot that my boys were with me on Maria,” she explained in a conversation with The Hollywood Reporter earlier this year. “When I would have really heavy times, they would come over and just give me a hug or a cup of tea.”
She continued: “That was probably one of the more intense things. Usually when I’m expressing that much pain, it’s not in front of my children.
“You really try to hide from your children how much pain and sadness you carry. And so for them to be with you when you’re expressing it at such a level, I think it was the first time they ever heard me cry like that.”
Jolie spoke again about the filming experience in a recent interview with The Sunday Times, revealing how it prompted her to have conversations with her sons about violence in relationships.
“They were able to consider the relationships in the film and the violence,” Jolie recalled. “Things that sometimes you don’t have the opportunity to discuss with your sons, so I felt fortunate.”
Maria is set for release on Netflix on 11 December.