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Ahead of the premiere of her film Maria at the Venice International Film Festival, in which she plays the magnificent but troubled opera queen Maria Callas, Angelina Jolie says her “despair” and “grief” over her split from husband Brad Pitt helped her channel the tormented diva.
Was that really what made her so unhappy? Or had she simply read the discouraging reviews of her film?
Callas is one of the most surprising women of the last century: a legendary soprano betrayed by her lover Aristotle Onassis, who married Jackie Kennedy without telling her, leaving her heartbroken in Paris.
Angelina Jolie says her ‘desperation’ and ‘grief’ over her split from husband Brad Pitt helped her channel the troubled diva
It can hardly be compared to the life of Jolie, the daughter of Oscar-winning actor Jon Voight, who was never betrayed by the more talented Brad.
Jolie said: “When you’ve felt a certain level of despair, of pain… there are only certain sounds that can match that feeling. And for me the immensity of that feeling is encapsulated in opera; there’s nothing like it.”
This is what the woman who declared herself a punk fan and a devotee of The Clash says. It is not surprising that film critics who are watching this movie are asking themselves: should I stay or should I go?
Let’s look at the facts and the “pain” that Ange actually shares with Maria. Jolie’s box office appeal never recovered after she snatched Brad away from his first wife, Hollywood sweetheart Jennifer Aniston.
They lived together for years, raising six children before marrying in 2014, separating two years later and being at war ever since.
Watching her in Venice, I was reminded of those emails leaked in 2014, in which a Hollywood producer described Jolie as “a spoiled and minimally talented child.”
Then she should have learned her lesson. In the final aria of Puccini’s masterpiece, sung by Callas, Madame Butterfly kills herself with her father’s knife, singing “Con onor muore,” meaning “die with honor.”
I hope one day we’ll see Ange’s career follow the same path.
Is the Prince plotting?
Despite Prince Harry insisting he is no longer safe in the UK, he is flying “secretly” to attend the funeral of his uncle Robert Fellowes.
It has been separately confirmed that he will not add any more bile to the paperback edition of his memoirs Spare, nor give any more stinging interviews.
So was Harry really paying tribute to a beloved uncle or was he just trying to weasel his way back into the royal family?
My cat and Yuna? They are not perfect
My kitty Ted is delighted that three-year-old lioness Yuna, who was trapped in a tiny concrete bunker in war-torn Ukraine, has been rescued by The Big Cat Sanctuary and can now feel the grass beneath her feet in her forever home in Kent. Ted would like to meet Yuna to talk about how he too bounced back after being rescued from abuse as a kitten. But given that her last romance was with a gay cat called Rocky, I doubt it will be love at first sight.
- Before the release of the imaginatively titled remake of his 1988 cult horror hit Beetlejuice, filmmaker Tim Burton said he “loved” making it. Unfortunately, some critics were not happy to see it. One scathingly declared: “The long-awaited resurrection should have stayed dead.”
The deadly selfishness of the driver
The lawyer for 96-year-old June Mills, who killed pedestrian Brenda Joyce, 76, after losing control of her car and driving onto a curb, said Mills had good character in her past. The sad truth is that anyone who gets behind the wheel of a car at 96 does not have good character; they only think about themselves.
After failing to show up for a previous insolvency hearing, Katie Price, who is saddled with a £760,000 tax bill, finally appears at the High Court only for the judge to rule that subjecting her to “extreme” public scrutiny would “damage her mental health”, granting her a stay for proceedings to be held in private.
I must try this next time I can’t pay my tax bill: Sorry HMRC, after six facelifts and 17 breast augmentations, I’m simply not mentally well enough to pay you.
BBC director-general Tim Davie says he feels “let down” by the Huw Edwards scandal and assures staff that “we hold ourselves to the highest standards”. Davie became director-general in 2020 and in 2022 there have been more than 40,000 convictions for TV licence evasion, of which 74 per cent were women, often older women. Some standards, aunt.
Meanwhile, Alex Williams, 25, who sent Edwards indecent images of children, was given a suspended prison sentence of just 12 months. It is only right that his name and face are on social media, guaranteeing a life sentence.
- Influencer Molly-Mae Hague has broken her silence on social media after dumping her fiancé Tommy Fury over allegations he cheated on her. She says she feels alone. Do you think her 8 million Instagram followers have an appetite for Molly and Tommy: The Reunion?
Strictly speaking, Gio wins
Amanda Abbington’s claim that former Strictly professional dancer Giovanni Pernice sent her a “sex-related” video clip has delayed the BBC’s internal investigation into her claims that he gave her PTSD. There is some justice, as the woman whose complaint will damage the Strictly brand is now appearing in a small play at a minor north London theatre. Meanwhile, tickets for Pernice’s film
- Some fans complain that Oasis charge too much for their reunion gigs. Stop crying! They provided a magical soundtrack for many of us in the nineties. I’d rather pay a few hundred pounds to see Noel and Liam aged 50 than double that to see the geriatric Rolling Stones giving very little satisfaction.
Before falling in the first round of the US Open, Emma Raducanu deflected questions about Andy Murray’s triple Grand Slam legacy, saying it’s now “old notoriety”. It’s not nice, Emma, and it’s not surprising that, given his poor form on and off the court, his £10m sponsors are wondering if
++Westminster Wars++
- With Starmer’s apocalyptic claims about the economy, even Guardian commentators are now saying: “We’ve all lost count of how many black holes he’s found in the country’s finances… He sounded like the builder who says you need a whole new roof after you’ve called him in to clean the gutters.”
- Meanwhile, one of his own MPs called the scrapping of winter fuel payments for some pensioners “a suicidal announcement”, and the left-wing Mirror newspaper claimed it left “Labour voters feeling coldly betrayed”.
- And who is most affected by Starmer’s proposed outdoor smoking ban? The “workers” he claims to represent. People on low incomes are the largest demographic of smokers.