MoonlightDirector Compares Angelina Jolie'sMariaPerformance to Denzel Washington as Malcolm X: 'So Striking'

Mar. 15, 2025

Angelina Jolie in Maria and Denzel Washington in Malcolm X.Photo:Pablo Larraín/Netflix, Warner Bros/Courtesy Everett Collection

Pablo Larraín/Netflix, Warner Bros/Courtesy Everett Collection

Oscar winnerBarry Jenkinsis praisingAngelina Jolie’s performance inMaria.

During an Oct. 26 AFI Festival conversation with Jolie, 49,Moonlightdirector Jenkins, 44, compared her work as 20th century opera singerMaria CallastoDenzel Washington’s performance asMalcolm Xin Spike Lee’s 1992 film, andJesse Eisenberg’s acclaimed portrayal ofMark Zuckerbergin 2010’sThe Social Network.

Angelina Jolie in Maria.Pablo Larrain/Netflix

Pablo Larrain/Netflix

Jolie expects to remain a major contender for awards season withMaria, which opens in select theaters Nov. 27 and begins streaming on Netflix Dec. 11. Both Washington, 69, and Eisenberg, 41, received Oscar nominations for the roles Jenkins compared Jolie’s performance to.

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Angelina Jolie in Maria.Pablo Larraín

Pablo Larraín

Mariafollows Callas “in her final days as the diva reckons with her identity and life,” according to an official synopsis for the movie, which also stars Kodi Smit-McPhee, Alba Rohrwacher, Pierfrancesco Favino and Valeria Golino. The real-life Callas died in Paris in 1977 of a heart attack at age 53.

During that same Oct. 26 Q&A, Jolie shared that shooting the new movie, her first since 2021’sEternals, enabled her “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,” she said at the time.

Later in the conversation, she added of her performance, “I knew I had a safe place to fail, so I was allowed to be free.”

source: people.com