Angelina Jolie's Vocal Coach Reveals Why She Was 'Perfect' to Star inMariaDespite Never Singing Before (Exclusive)

Mar. 15, 2025

Angelina Jolie in November 2024; Eric Vetro in October 2024.Photo:Stefano Guidi/Getty ; Michael Kovac/Getty

Stefano Guidi/Getty ; Michael Kovac/Getty

Jolie stars as the late opera legend inPablo Larraín’s new biopicMariaabout Callas' final years living in Paris before her death at age 53 in 1977, and Vetro worked with the Oscar winner on her vocal performance in the film for around seven months.

“She started from ground zero. She had never sung before,” Vetro, 68, the go-to coach for stars fromAriana GrandetoTimothée Chalamet, tells PEOPLE of Jolie, 49, whose voice is blended with Callas' original recordings throughoutMaria. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen someone make such a huge difference from the first day to the last day.”

Vetro recalls Jolie feeling “a little nervous and shy about singing in the beginning,” but he quickly learned just how determined she was to nail the part. “Her desire to do a great job overrode anything that might stop her.”

The coach is used to working with novice vocalists, but training someone to sing opera is a unique experience, as there’s rarely a steady beat to follow. “It ebbs and it flows. It goes a little faster here, a little slower there,” he says. “So to do that, I mean, you have to really be musical.”

At one point during their sessions together, Vetro heard Jolie sing “O mio babbino caro,” a soprano aria from the 1918 operaGianni Schicchi— and he was blown away.

Angelina Jolie, Lori Stinson and Eric Vetro in October 2024.Jerod Harris/Getty

Jerod Harris/Getty

“It was the most thrilling day of all of our time spent together,” he recalls. “I was like, ‘This is it. She can do it. She’s the perfect person to play this role.’ And I’m someone who loved Maria Callas — I really did. She was one of my favorite opera singers, and so it really touched me that she was able to do it like this.”

“I feel like anything she decided to do, she probably could do. She’s a remarkable human being,” says Vetro. “She really inspired me to always give 150% every minute of the day, because she does.”

Angelina Jolie in ‘Maria’.Pablo Larrain/Netflix

Pablo Larrain/Netflix

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Mariais in theaters now and will be available to stream Dec. 11 on Netflix.

Vetro recently offered up his skills forBBC Maestro’s “Sing Like the Stars,“an eight-hour series of videos featuring advice from his star studentsSabrina Carpenter,John LegendandMarissa Jaret Winokur. The course is available now.

source: people.com