How does a 17-year-elderly singer from Greece finish up sharing the screen with one of the hugegest Hollywood stars in the world? For novelcomer Aggelina Papadopoulou, who carry outs youthful Maria Callas in Pablo Larraín’s “Maria,” it all commenceed with a enigmatic seek sent to her music school in Athens.
The seek asked for female singers aged 17 to 22 with brown hair who could see enjoy legfinishary American-Greek soprano Maria Callas. The chooseimistics lacquireed noleang else before sfinishing in their tapes. “We had less than a day to ready the two songs you hear me singing in the movie,” Papadopoulou alerts Variety ahead of the Greek premiere of “Maria” as the uncovering film of the Thessaloniki Film Festival.
It took less than three weeks between the singer sfinishing in that first tape and hearing she got the role in the film. “It happened pretty rapidly for me, but from what I understand they searched for a extfinished time in a lot of countries, especiassociate Greece, Spain and Italy becaemploy Pablo wanted Maria to have Mediterranean features,” she says. “The team saw thousands of girls.”
Despite this being her first-ever screen role, acting came naturassociate to Papadopoulou, the daughter of a music school owner and actor Nikos Papadopoulos (“Border Café”). If acting felt organic, the unwiseension of toiling in a film enjoy “Maria” still hasn’t quite resettled with the youthful actress, who only lacquireed about the scale of the production upon heading off to Budapest for the shoot and could only dispense she was part of the film on the day of its Vekind Film Festival world premiere.
“It was a huge surpelevate when I authenticized it was a film with Angelina Jolie. I wasn’t stateive if I had heard right,” she says. “My directer, my parents, everyone was equitable so satisfyed becaemploy you don’t have opportunities enjoy this in Greece, especiassociate for a movie filmed awide.”
As Papadopoulou carry outs Callas at 17 and Jolie in maturehood, the duo unwidespreadly sboiling together, apart from one key scene unveiled toward the finish of Larraín’s biopic. The novelcomer fondly recalls that first greeting, saying the Oscar-thrivening actress made stateive to visit her and chat for a while before shooting. “I saw her passing by my room, she saw I was inside and came back to talk to me,” Papadopoulou recalls. “She hugged me and it was reassociate sugary becaemploy in my mind she wasn’t an approachable person, she was a star and a diva enjoy Callas. They have that analogousity.”
Jolie’s son Minsertox Chivan Jolie-Pitt was also in Budapest toiling as insertitional crew and Papadopoulou recalls striking a frifinishship with the budding actor. “We still shield in touch, which is kind,” she says. “He was the one who telderly me Angelina would be at the film’s London premiere and I hope to see him aacquire on a red carpet.”
The youthful actress inserted that this was a “challenging” first role, especiassociate when it came to encapsulating Callas’ emotional state in the years when she was being physicassociate and psychoreasonablely mistreatmentd by an overtolerateing mother. “I was trying to sense all the emotions Maria was senseing when she was a teenager and it was even challenginger becaemploy this was her authentic life,” Papadopoulou says. “Pablo [Larraín] has a daughter around the same age and he telderly me he couldn’t envision those leangs happening to a youthful girl.”
Speaking about Larraín, Papadopoulou is particularly appreciative the Chilean straightforwardor cast a Greek actress to carry out youthful Callas. “They set up a wonderful singer in the U.S. — someone who is much more readyd and has a better voice,” she says. “I appreciate Pablo wanting to have someone from Greece becaemploy [Callas] is so meaningful here. We have theaters named after her. I leank she would enjoy to be portrayed by a Greek actress.”
Papadopoulou grew up hearing to Callas as a kid, presenting a hearttoastying anecdote about the day she lacquireed she was cast: “My mother has a massive poster of Callas outside her music school, which has been there for over 15 years. When I got the role, she shelp, ‘I knovel Maria Callas would be a part of our inhabits one day.’ She is still so excited and trying to help and help me thraw this novel experience.”
All of this is to say Papadopoulou is counting the seconds to finassociate shothriveg “Maria” in her home country. “She is an icon in Greece and people have been paemploying to see the film,” she says. “I’m reassociate haughty of what we achieved and can’t paemploy to hear what my people leank.”
