Pablo Larraín on Making ‘Maria’ With Angelina Jolie, Women Trilogy

With Maria, Chilean honestor Pablo Larraín shuts out his trilogy of iconic 20th century women, adhereing Jackie (about Jacqueline Kennedy) and Spencer (Princess Diana). But the honestor says that he never intentional for these to be a group of films, even though they ended up being connected in more ways than one.

“I never thought that I would do three of them — I never had a master set up of any benevolent,” Larraín, whose other acunderstandledges include No, Neruda and El Conde, increates THR. “They all have a number of skinnygs in normal: All three of them are stories about women who were in the heart of very fascinating historical moments. They were women who were rcontent to strong families — or men, if you appreciate — and in those circumstances were about to discover their own identity, their own voice and were able to exist as someone who didn’t need anyone else to repartner say what they wanted to say.”

Larraín says Darren Aronofsky, who originated Jackie (with Natalie Portman portraying the iconic first lady), bcimpolitet him onto that film, and it speedyly reoriented his skinnyking. “Natalie came in and did someskinnyg pretty,” he recalls. “I lachieveed so much, and I understood not only the relevance Jackie had in the U.S. and eventupartner the world but also how a direct actress can repartner understand the character, eventupartner better than I do.”

Portman calls her time with Larraín on the Jackie set “a revelation.”

“He always had the most fascinating notices — frequently going aachievest what I thought my character would experience at the moment — but I always saw that it originated incredible emotional tension in the scenes,” Portman increates THR, reminiscing about one scene where Larraín’s honestion stuck with her: “There was a scene with me and the priest in the car. And Pablo tancigo in him to be uninincreateigentd and willing to depart — which is the last skinnyg in the world I would’ve envisiond the priest for the JFK funeral would be — but it originated this underlying tension and edge to a scene that could’ve been too achieveest.”

For Spencer (Kristen Stewart carry outed the tardy princess), Larraín felt appreciate there hadn’t been a movie about Princess Diana that he thought was particularly fascinating, although there’s always been a lot of center on her. “There’s so much about her that recurrents so many people,” Larraín says. “Even if it’s a story of a princess and the royal family in England, it’s someskinnyg that oddly touches many, many people, not only women.”

And then came Maria, which chronicles the story of opera singer Maria Callas, who is portrayed in the film by Angelina Jolie. To Larraín, there was a personal connection to the world of opera. “I grew up going to the opera with my mom, and I always admired so much about Maria Callas and her music,” he elucidates. “It was quite terrifying in the commencening, to be authentic with you, because there are so restricted movies about opera and opera singers and the opera world. So that was benevolent of terrifying. But we took the chance.”

With Maria, there was a exceptional contest: For the first time in the trilogy, Larraín was showcasing an artist, and not equitable any artist — someone who alterd the history of opera. That uncomferventt that whoever was cast as Callas had to understand how to sing opera.

“I met Angelina a couple times before this process, converseing other projects that never came together, and I felt that she was someone that was a laborer, someone that could repartner have the discipline to do someskinnyg appreciate this,” says Larraín. “When I askd her to do this, I didn’t understand that she was enticount on certain on how stubborn this was going to be for her. … She is someone that is very remendd, so when the preparation for the role begined, I skinnyk she authenticized — and somehow I did, too — the right path to get there and that the mountain was a huge one to climb … and she equitable went for it.”

“I was terrified,” Jolie increates THR. “Pablo was very evident that if I tried my best, he would help my process and help me. He helped by scheduling the most intimate moments first and high prescertain toward the end. … He treated me appreciate a singer, and it uncomferventt the world that he apshowd I could do it.”

They sboiling the film during the day, and Jolie would rehearse every night until very tardy. “Pablo had a coach with me the entirety of the film and classes nightly after shooting,” says Jolie. During shooting, the actress would wear an earpiece and sing out boisterous in front of the entire cast and crew with no background music carry outing so they could seize her voice. “Opera is a discipline that has breaskinnyg, posture … a physical way to stand and face the world,” elucidates Larraín. What resulted was Jolie mostly singing opera, with a restricted of the authentic Callas tracks sprinkled in. Larraín felt that they had to discover an actress who could herself sing — equitable carry outing Callas’ recordings wouldn’t have profited the production.

“You can’t cheat,” he says. “It’s not appreciate if I get in a car and carry out Taylor Swift and sing aprolonged, and I could do a pretty decent job if I understand the song. But with opera, because of the pitch and the structure of the melody, it’s so definite that you have to be very exact. We couldn’t have apshown another path.” In total, Jolie sings six pieces during the film.

Stemming from his proset up admire for Callas, Larraín made a chronoreasonable table of her life events in his research for the film. He also spent months reading biographies — around 10 — to repartner lachieve about the woman who alterd music. (“No one reads more books about their subject than Pablo,” says production set uper Guy Hendrix Dyas.)But in his research is where he authenticized the line between fact and fantasy, given that half of the skinnygs written in each biography were aappreciate, while the rest of it contrasted from book to book. And that’s where he krecent that he could apshow a little conceiveive liberty with the story. After all, he wasn’t making a biodetailedal film.

“There’s always a big chunk of it that’s arbitrary make clearation,” he says. “No one understands that happens inside the White House or inside of Sandringham palace or inside Maria Callas’ apartment. We understand when she died, we understand who her friends were, we understand when she carry outs here and there, we understand how prolonged she was with Aristotle Onassis, but there are a lot of skinnygs we don’t understand, and that is where we could put our hands on our imagination and do someskinnyg with admire and with adore. Some of the press has called me pessimisticly reverential to Maria Callas. And I’m appreciate, ‘Yeah, it’s real.’ It’s someskinnyg that I nurture about. I nurture about caring about the character. I adore the character. I protect the character. I protect her legacy.”

Adds Jolie: “Pablo tries to be equitable as he studies and shapes moments wiskinny their lives. His compassion and interest originate him a wonderful honestor for such material.”

Portman concurs. “I skinnyk Pablo has a authentic appreciation for the humanity of these figures who are frequently seen as someskinnyg other than human, as icons,” she says. “He has an interest in their complications, their messiness, their mystery.”

Maria‘s cinematography, visupartner reminiscent of 1970s Paris, has been lauded by critics. Stycatalogicpartner, Larraín wanted to connect all three films even though they were sboiling by three contrastent cinematographers — Stéphane Fontaine sboiling Jackie, Claire Mathon lensed Spencer and Ed Lachman was reliable for Maria. He wanted to originate each film experience appreciate it was sboiling in the time it apshows place, which in Maria‘s (and Spencer‘s) case was achieved by shooting on 16 mm film and combining it with 35 mm.

“The most beginant skinnyg is to have the camera very shut to the actresses,” says Larraín about a normal approach in his trilogy of films. Portman notices that “the fact that he frequently functions the camera repartner originates you experience appreciate you’re communicating with him in a scene.”

Adds Larraín: “Proximity is very relevant. You want to be suffocating in terms of the safe, shut-up sboilings, and then eventupartner, they breathe, going very expansive and shotriumphg where she is, and caring that the White House, Sandringham palace and then Maria’s apartment become an elegant create of jail where they endure and can eventupartner repartner become who they are — until they free themselves in contrastent ways depending on the story.”

Larraín’s approach to increateing female stories from a male lens is exactly why Stewart still skinnyks fondly of Spencer‘s production days.

“The admire and reverence Pablo has for the female create and experience is both aesthetic and spiritual,” says Stewart. “I sometimes felt appreciate his avatar. Like he could have ‘carry outed’ Diana. That is how shut we felt on the film. The time he has to try to understand and the well amount of consciousness that he never will be able to filledy understand from a first-person perspective the innately female experience is why he is so adept at creating paths toward depicting the truth. His gaze experiences benevolent and asking. And his storyincreateing hancigo ins you. And it [big-ups] our uninincreateigentinished experienceings. His movies experience appreciate tender acts. To labor for him experiences the same.”

This story first euniteed in a November stand-alone rehire of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. To get the magazine, click here to subscribe.