Why Angelina Jolie Hopes Her Life Never Gets the Biopic Treatment

Angelina Jolie, the celebrated actress and UN Ambassador for Peace, is no stranger to the world of biopics. After all, she’s currently starring in the highly anticipated Maria, a film about the legendary opera singer Maria Callas, directed by Pablo Larraín. While Jolie has fully embraced the challenge of portraying one of history’s most iconic voices, she has very different feelings about the idea of a biopic about her own life.

In a recent interview with The Times, Jolie responded candidly when asked about the possibility of Larraín directing a biopic based on her own story. “That gets the most insane question award,” she said, clearly taken aback by the suggestion. “When you’re a public person and you’re playing [someone like Callas], you’re conscious of how you would hate for somebody to interpret your life or think they understand your life, so we tried to be thoughtful. Let’s hope there isn’t one about my life.”

Despite her reaction, Jolie’s life has been anything but ordinary. With a career spanning decades, from her breakthrough role in Girl, Interrupted to her Academy Award-winning performances and her high-profile marriage to Brad Pitt, Jolie’s personal and professional journey is rich with dramatic potential. However, as the mother of six children and an advocate for peace, she’s made it clear that her preference is for privacy. She’s consciously stepped back from the spotlight in recent years, focusing on her family and humanitarian work, including her role as a UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador.

Nevertheless, her extraordinary life is often the subject of public fascination, and her influence in Hollywood remains immense. Even though Jolie might prefer to keep the details of her personal story out of the cinematic world, her name and legacy remain enticing material for biographers and filmmakers alike. The prospect of Larraín—known for his impactful biopics of figures like Jacqueline Kennedy and Princess Diana—eventually turning his gaze toward a film about her is not entirely out of the realm of possibility.

However, for now, Jolie seems to be focused on the work at hand—particularly her portrayal of the late Maria Callas. It was a role that required her to undergo significant personal transformation. Larraín, in an interview with Entertainment Weekly, expressed his amazement after witnessing Jolie’s powerful performance. “I was in shock when I saw her sing after months of training,” he said, describing her process as emotionally raw. Jolie herself opened up about the challenge of learning to sing for the role, revealing that past negative experiences with a former partner had made her doubt her own abilities. “I had somebody in my life who was not kind to me about singing,” she admitted. “It took me getting past a lot of things to start singing.”

Despite her reluctance to entertain the idea of a biopic about her life, it’s clear that Jolie has a deep understanding of how such films can affect their subjects. As someone who has spent years in the public eye, she is keenly aware of the potential for distortion or oversimplification in the portrayal of a real person’s story. It’s this awareness that fuels her desire to keep her personal life out of the limelight and focus on the roles that allow her to express her artistry in ways that resonate with her on a deeper level.

In the end, while Hollywood may one day consider telling the story of Angelina Jolie’s life, for now, the actress seems content with remaining a mystery to her fans and the public. As she continues to embody powerful figures like Maria Callas on screen, it seems that her own story will remain hers alone.