Angelina Jolie reflects on facing new fears while filming ‘Maria’

Angelina Jolie revealed that she was terrified as an artist during the filming of her new biopic.

In a recent Q&A session after the premiere of Maria at AFI Fest in Los Angeles, the actress confronted her fears.

“I got to be terrified again as an artist, which is such a gift, because you get scared and have to do something you’re not sure you can do, and surprise yourself,” Jolie said, “I knew I had a safe place to fail, so I was allowed to be free.”

Jolie portrays the legendary opera singer, Maria Callas, in Pablo Larain’s directed biopic.

The Maleficent actress went on to say, “There’s not a lot of moments in life where you get asked to give everything you’ve got,” she said of the role.

“And it’s one of the greatest gifts, especially as an artist, for somebody to ask for and want you to give everything you’ve got that you don’t know you’ve got. And I did know how to approach this, and so I listened to her,” the Academy Award winner added.

The synopsis of Maria says, “(The story) follows the American-Greek soprano as she retreats to Paris after a glamorous and tumultuous life in the public eye.”

Previously, the Salt alum’s upcoming biopic received an eight-minute standing ovation at the Venice Film Festival, and she candidly told Variety that playing Maria and the process of learning opera was “daunting.”