Angelina Jolie says she has a ‘soft and emotional side’ she hides from the world… after crying at Maria premiere

Angelina Jolie has played a lot of tough characters on the big screen, such as Lara Croft in Tomb Raider and Evelyn Salt in Salt.

But in real life, the 49-year-old Oscar winning actress is actually soft, she said while at the Venice Film Festival.

When asked by a reporter how she related to opera singer Maria Callas, whom Jolie is playing in a new Netflix movie titled Maria, she explained.

‘I think the way I related to her may be a surprise — [it was] probably the part of her that’s extremely soft,’ said Jolie at a panel on Thursday, according to People.

The star continued, ‘And she doesn’t have room in the world to be as soft as she truly was, and as emotionally open as she truly was.’

Jolie was hinting that she has hidden her soft side due to her enormous fame. 

When asked by a reporter how she related to opera singer Maria Callas, whom Jolie is playing in a new Netflix movie, she explained. ‘I think the way I related to her may be a surprise — [it was] probably the part of her that’s extremely soft,’ said Jolie at a panel

This comes after Jolie shed tears when she received an eight minute standing ovation for her film Maria.

The mother of six was seen wiping away tears as the claps continued. 

Jolie also said during her panel that she worked very hard to star as Callas in a movie.

She said she spent almost seven months training her voice so she could sing opera because she does not want to ‘disappoint’ Maria’s fans.

And she was asked about the word diva, which is what Callas was called.

‘I think it’s often come with a lot of negative connotations,’ said Jolie.

‘I think I’ve re-learned that word through Maria… and I have a new relationship to it.

‘I think it is often other people’s perception of a woman that defines, sometimes too much, who she is and who she was, or what she intended,’ she added.

The star continued, ‘And she doesn’t have room in the world to be as soft as she truly was, and as emotionally open as she truly was’; Jolie as Callas

Jolie was hinting that she has hidden her soft side due to her enormous fame

This new image of Jolie on stage as Callas was shared this week

Callas (L) and her husband Giovanni Battista Meneghini (R)

‘And I actually think [Maria] was one of the hardest-working people, who didn’t hurt anybody.

‘So I suppose it’s everybody in this room that makes that definition sometimes, but the true definition may be [that] the great composers define it differently,’ Jolie said.

Netflix has acquired the rights to Maria, but a release date has not yet been announced. 

Earlier Jolie said she got her sons to block the door of her rehearsal room when she was training to sing like Maria Callas.

The Maleficent actress said: ‘Everybody here knows I was terribly nervous about the singing. 

‘I spent almost seven months training because when you work with (director) Pablo (Larrain) you can’t do anything by half.

‘He demands in a most wonderful way that that you really do the work and really learn and train.

Jolie cried during a standing ovation for her film Maria in Venice; seen in 2003

‘My first time singing I was so nervous that my sons were there and they helped to block the door so that nobody else was coming in.

‘And I was shaky. Pablo in his decency started me in a small room and ended me in La Scala.

‘So he gave me a time to grow. I was frightened to live up to her and you know I had not sung in public.’

Angelina plays Maria when the singing icon was nearing death and losing her voice.

The opera legend is still idolized as the greatest voice in the history of opera and died in 1977 aged 53 after a spell of illness and isolation.

Angelina’s grueling role comes as she continues to battle her Fight Club ex-husband Brad Pitt, 60, over the custody of their six children and over the shares she sold in their Château Miraval winery in France.

Angelina’s grueling role comes as she continues to battle her Fight Club ex-husband Brad Pitt, 60, over the custody of their six children and over the shares she sold in their Château Miraval winery in France. Seen in 2015

The actress filed for divorce from Brad in 2016 and the pair were awarded joint custody of their kids by a judge in May 2021.

After the ruling, Angelina decided to sell her chunk of her and Brad’s vineyard, which has plunged them into an epic and complex legal battle.

A source has told Page Six Brad is refusing to let go of the fight over the business as he sees it as an asset for his children.

The insider added: ‘It’s important that people realize that Brad’s motivation is to ensure that his kids can maximize the benefit of this asset.

‘Once it was sold, that’s no longer the case and it significantly decreased their inheritance.’