Angelina Jolie in Maria compared to Denzel Washington as Malcolm X
by Sameer Suri · Mail OnlineAn acclaimed director has compared Angelina Jolie's performance in Maria to Denzel Washington's turn as Malcolm X.
Angelina, 49, has been at the center of a hum of Oscar buzz ever since a trailer dropped last month for her upcoming Netflix movie.
Maria stars Angelina as the legendary opera singer Maria Callas during her final decline in Paris amid her failed comeback in the 1970s.
Now Barry Jenkins, the director of the Oscar-winning drama Moonlight about a black gay man's coming of age, has added his voice to the choir of praise.
'The performance is so striking,' he told Angelina, in footage obtained by Indiewire. 'It’s almost like, to me, Jesse Eisenberg is Mark Zuckerberg. Denzel Washington is Malcolm X, in a certain way. And I think you are Maria Callas in the same way. In this movie, in so many moments, you are performing with your whole body.'
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Barry made the remarks while moderating a conversation at AFI Fest with several people involved with Maria, including Angelina and director Pablo Larrain.
Spike Lee directed the 1992 biopic Malcolm X starring Denzel as the iconic black activist, with Angela Bassett as his wife Betty Shabazz.
Denzel was nominated for the Oscar for best actor for his performance in the movie, though he ultimately lost to Al Pacino for Scent Of A Woman.
Jesse Eisenberg also earned an Oscar nod for his turn as Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg in David Fincher's 2010 drama The Social Network, losing out to Colin Firth as King George VI of England in the World War II film The King's Speech.
Moonlight was released in 2016 and was showered with praise by the critics, winning multiple Academy Awards including best picture.
About two weeks ago, a trailer dropped online for Angelina's upcoming Maria Callas movie, prompting an outpouring of enthusiasm from viewers.
'Holy s**t I f**king can't wait to see this movie!!! Seriously I know I'm going to be blown away by Angelina Jolie's performance as Maria. The Oscar is coming for her,' one X user predicted.
A third, who admitted they hadn't even watched the trailer, joked they were already planning on 'running the Angelina Jolie Oscar campaign.'
'The Maria trailer is so beautiful. I've seen enough, give Angelina Jolie the Oscar already,' a fourth tweeted.
Another X user even photoshopped a photo of Jolie beaming with joy as she held onto an Academy Award with a tweet reading: 'Manifesting: Angelina Jolie Best Actress Oscar Winner.'
Maria, according to a synopsis, 'follows the American-Greek soprano as she retreats to Paris after a glamorous and tumultuous life in the public eye.'
The film aims to 'reimagines the legendary soprano in her final days as the diva reckons with her identity and life.'
She died in Paris in 1977 of a heart attack at age 53.
The highly anticipated movie will come out in theaters in November then stream on Netflix in December.
Netflix is set to release the film in U.S. theaters on November 27 before it debuts on the streaming platform on December 11.
Previously, the mom-of-six won an Oscar the Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her role as Lisa Rowe, a diagnosed sociopath, in the 1999 psychological thriller Girl, Interrupted.
In 2008, she was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress for her portrayal of Christine Collins in the mystery crime drama Changeling.
She lost, however, to French actress, Marion Cotillard, who won for her leading role in La Vie en Rose.
Throughout her career, Jolie has taken home a number of awards, including three Golden Globe Awards, two Screen Actors Guild Awards, and a Tony Award.
Jolie is halfway to EGOT status after winning her first Tony over the summer.
The EGOT is one of the most prestigious clubs in all of US showbiz and there are dozens of stars who are just one award from achieving the prestigious title.
The acronym stands for Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony Awards and is the designation given to people who have won all four of the major American performing awards.
Jolie just needs to earn an Emmy and Grammy in order to achieve the feat, which has only been earned by 21 people.