Did Angelina Jolie's kids work on Maria? Actress talks about expressing "pain that usually a parent hides from a child"

Angelina Jolie has revealed that her sons Maddox, 23, and Pax, 21, worked alongside her as production assistants on her latest film, Maria, a biopic about the life of opera legend Maria Callas. In an interview with BBC News on December 19, 2024, Jolie shared that working on the film led her to show emotional vulnerability in front of her children in a way she had not done before.

"They’ve seen me go through a lot of things, but they hadn’t experienced me expressing a lot of the pain that usually a parent hides from a child," Jolie explained.

The actress noted that this experience allowed her to explore "a new way" of being emotionally honest with her children.

"So they were there to witness some of that, but then we would hug or they would bring me cups of tea," she added.

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Angelina Jolie's role as Maria Callas involved intense opera training

Directed by Pablo Larraín, Maria chronicles the final years of Maria Callas' life in 1970s Paris. The film required Angelina Jolie to undergo extensive preparation, including seven months of opera training. Despite having no prior experience, Jolie embraced the challenge, even blending her own vocals with Callas' original recordings in the film's musical scenes.

"When the opera classes began, what it requires with your breathwork and your body and just the force of what you push through yourself, it’s just a very different physicality," Jolie told BBC.

Angelina Jolie admitted that singing had always been an area where she felt shy but described the experience as transformative.

"It was probably one of the areas in my life that I was hesitant...One of the greatest privileges of being an actor is you often are supported by a crew to try something and explore something you’ve never done, and this certainly was most challenging," she added.

Maddox and Pax's involvement in Maria was not their first experience working with their mother. The siblings had previously collaborated with Jolie on her 2022 film Without Blood. For Maria, Pax's role extended beyond production assistant duties, as he also documented Jolie's early vocal training sessions.

Reflecting on their presence on set, Angelina Jolie noted the value of having her children witness her struggles and perseverance. According to BBC, Director Pablo Larraín praised Maddox and Pax's professionalism, calling them "very busy" and "good professionals" on set.

Maria premiered at the Venice Film Festival on August 29, 2024, receiving an eight-minute standing ovation, as per Variety. Angelina Jolie's portrayal of Callas drew significant attention, with critics offering mixed but mostly positive reviews. Sophia Ciminello of AwardsWatch described Jolie as "absolutely spellbinding" in the role, adding that she imbued Callas with "grace and resolve."

Time's Stephanie Zacharek offered a more tempered view, stating that Jolie's portrayal was "haughtily cool and deeply insecure" but that it lacked Callas's "imperious charisma."

Written by Peaky Blinders creator Steven Knight, Maria is the third installment in Pablo Larraín's trilogy of films about high-profile women, following Jackie (2016) and Spencer (2021). The film explores Callas' final years, focusing on her personal and professional struggles as she lived in relative isolation.

The narrative highlights Callas' legacy as one of opera's most iconic figures and her influence on the art form.

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Maria is currently available to stream on Netflix.