Angelina Jolie talks motherhood and her new role in 'Maria'
In her new movie "Maria," Oscar winner Angelina Jolie plays the titular role of iconic opera singer Maria Callas, for whom singing meant so much.
In the trailer for "Maria," Jolie, playing Callas, even says, "There is no life away from the stage."
For Jolie, who sat down to discuss her new work with "Good Morning America" co-anchor Michael Strahan, motherhood is the main focus in her life, in the way singing was for Callas.
"It's my happiness," Jolie told Strahan. "You can take everything else away from me. Nothing else matters."
Jolie is a mom of six kids: sons Maddox, Pax and Knox, and daughters Zahara, Shiloh and Vivienne.
Jolie's sons Maddox and Pax worked on "Maria" with her, which Jolie said was an "amazing" experience.
But despite her life in the spotlight, Jolie said her children don't have the desire to follow her footsteps into acting.
"None of my children want to be in front of the camera at this time," Jolie said.
"They're quite private. Shiloh's extremely private," she added. "They weren't born with privacy, right? So I hope they can have that as they grow."
For her starring role in "Maria," Jolie learned how to sing opera in order to embody the tragic primadonna and her final days living in Paris while struggling to make a career comeback.
"All of my children suffered through my early opera singing in the house before I got kinda good, which was a nightmare," Jolie recalled.
Jolie said she and Callas may have even been friends, had their paths ever crossed in real life. Callas died on died Sept. 16, 1977, following a heart attack.
"There's obvious things that people would tie our lives and see we have in common. But I think it's more ... how hard she is in herself with her work, sometimes seen as strong, but actually very vulnerable and human. I certainly am," Jolie said.
"I think we would have been friends," she added. "She might have hated me at first. Think it would have grown on her."
"Maria" debuts in select theaters on Nov. 27 and will be available to stream on Netflix starting on Dec. 11.
