Angelina Jolie is back in the spotlight and she’s absolutely glowing! The 49-year-old actress has made her way overseas to sunny Venice for the upcoming Venice Film Festival.
She is set to appear at the premiere of Maria on Thursday, August 29in which she plays the titular Maria Callas, an American-born Greek opera singer, considered one of the most notable voices of the 20th century.
Ahead of the premiere, Angelina was spotted in Venice and looked beautiful as she was spotted in a tan short-sleeved trench, nipped in at the waist, with a white tee underneath, black slacks, and black leather boots.
Alongside her signature tattoos and a pair of shades, she also rocked lighter blonde accents in her flowing locks, a subtle but chic departure from her deeper brown that she last sported at the Tony Awards in NYC in June.
This is also the mom-of-six’s first public appearance since a spate of developments with her kids over the past few weeks, notably Pax and Shiloh.
20-year-old Pax suffered a head injury late in July when his e-bike crashed in LA and he wasn’t wearing a helmet, with his mother reportedly by his side at the hospital while he recovered.
![Angelina Jolie is seen arriving ahead of the 81st Venice International Film Festival 2024 on August 27, 2024 in Venice, Italy.](https://euro.dayfr.com/content/uploads/2024/08/28/30cd681c3b.jpg)
In the days since, her newly 18-year-old daughter Shiloh filed a legal request to drop her father Brad Pitt’s last name, fueling talk of estrangement between the Hollywood star and his six children. The request was eventually granted, and Shiloh will officially now go by Shiloh Nouvel Jolie.
Ironically enough, Brad is also slated to attend the Venice Film Festival this year for the premiere of his film Wolfs with George Clooney on Sunday, September 1, just days after Maria’s release. However, the festival’s artistic director Alberto Barbera shut down any notion of an uncomfortable reunion.
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“There is no way that they can cross each other at the Lido,” he reasoned due to their schedules in a conversation with Vanity Fair.
Maria is helmed by Spencer director Pablo Larraín, who told VF that he’d always wanted to work with the Oscar-winning actress and approached her after making Spencerthe Princess Diana biopic starring Kristen Stewart.
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“I talked to Angie and said, ‘Look, I’d like to make a movie with you. I won’t tell you what it is, but please go and see Spencer,'” he told the publication, and then revealed to her that he wanted her to play Maria Callas after she fell in love with Spencer.
![Angelina Jolie is seen arriving ahead of the 81st Venice International Film Festival 2024 on August 27, 2024 in Venice, Italy.](https://euro.dayfr.com/content/uploads/2024/08/28/a365a23183.jpg)
While hesitant at first to play one of the most renowned vocalists of her time, Angelina ultimately accepted the role and trained extensively for six months to prepare her voice and style for the role.
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Pablo also described his thought process behind casting Angelina. “This is the greatest diva of the 20th century, and who could play that?” he muses. “I didn’t want to work with someone that didn’t have that already.”
“I needed an actress who would naturally and organically be that diva, carry that weight, be that presence. Angelina was there,” he added, calling her period of preparation “very long, very particular, very difficult.”