My children Maddox and Pax saw my pain on the set of Maria

Angelina Jolie is known to be a private person.

But in a new interview with BBC News, the Hollywood star opened up about her experience on set with her older sons, saying they saw the “pain” she usually hides from them.

The actress is starring in a new biopiccalled “Maria”, about the opera singer Maria Kalas.

Two of Jolie’s six children with ex-husband Brad Pitt, Maddox and Pax, took on roles as production assistants on the film.

“The character (Kalas) is in a lot of pain, and of course they’ve seen me go through a lot of things, but they haven’t seen me express a lot of pain that usually parents hide from a child,” she said. said.

“So they were there to see some of it, but then we’d hug or they’d bring me cups of tea.”

Jolie added that it’s a “new way” to learn how to be honest with your children about your feelings, “to an even greater extent.”

Written by Peaky Blinders creator Stephen Knight, the film focuses on the final years of Callas’ life, in the 1970s, when she was living in Paris.

Since Jolie has rarely acted in roles in recent years, the film is something of a comeback for her and could lead to an Oscar nomination for Best Actress.

Kalas was an American-born Greek soprano and one of the most famous opera singers.

In Maria, the singing scenes use a mixture of Jolie’s own voice and Kalas’ original recordings.

The actress learned to sing opera for the role, which she describes as “very physically demanding.”

According to her, the training took about seven months.

“We started with regular singing classes and it was challenging in a lot of ways, but when you started with opera classes, the things that are required of your breath and your body and just the power of what you’re pushing through yourself, it’s just a whole different physicality.”

Jolie, whose previous film credits include Changeling, Maleficent, Salt and Mr. and Mrs. Smith, said she had never sung before and was “actually very shy to sing.”

“It was probably one of the areas of my life where I was hesitant,” she said.

But she noted that it’s also something she enjoys.

“One of the greatest privileges of being an actor is that you often have the support of a team to try things and explore things you’ve never done before, and that was definitely the most challenging thing,” she said.

Jolie’s sons Maddox, 23, and Pax, 21, have worked with her on a number of productions, including her film No Blood.

They both accompanied her to the premiere of Maria in New York in September, along with their younger sister Zahara.

Jolie filed for divorce from Pitt in September 2016. The couple fought a custody battle that resulted in Pete received joint custody in 2021.

The Hollywood stars also have daughters Shiloh and Vivienne and another son, Knox.

Both Maddox and Pax were “very busy” on the set of the film, said director Pablo Lorraine. “They were good professionals,” he added.

Jolie said that Pax recorded a lot of her singing during filming, “so he was with me in the first scary days,” she laughed.

“It’s always good for your kids to watch your mom not do something easily, but cursing and fighting and failing and having to try again,” she said.

“So it’s an important and beautiful thing.”

“Maria” is the third in a trilogy of films about famous, complex women from Lorraine, following his films about Jacqueline Kennedy and Princess Diana.

The film received mixed reviews, although critics generally praised his central role.

“Jolie is absolutely mesmerizing as Maria Callas, imbuing her with grace and determination.” said Sofia Ciminello of AwardsWatch. “She doesn’t disappear into a role, she transcends.”

Time’s Stephanie Zaharek was less interested on her performance, however, saying that Jolie “plays her subject as arrogantly cool and very insecure, but doesn’t portray her commanding charisma”.

Maria Kalas, known as La Divina, “The Divine One”, began singing at the age of 14.

One of her most famous performances was as Tosca at Covent Garden in 1964.

But a decline in her vocals, possibly caused by her drastic weight loss, brought her career to a premature end.

She spent the last years of her life in isolation and died of a heart attack at the age of 53.

Lorraine hoped his film honored Kalas’ desire to popularize the art form.

“If this film brings one to a hundred to a million attention to the opera, it will be a success,” he said.

“I don’t know if there is an art form as powerful as opera,” Jolie added.

“The way it connects with the soul and the body, so of course it’s for everyone.”

Maria will be released in UK cinemas on January 10.