The Must List
→ Five years after she
took flight as Sleeping
Beauty’s reinvented
antihero, Angelina Jolie
once again slips on those
heavy horns in Maleficent:
Mistress of Evil (Oct. 18).
In the sequel to the 2014
hit that conjured up more
than $750 million, the
sorceress and her god-
daughter Aurora (Elle
Fanning) fend off new
foes and Michelle Pfeiffer—
who steals the show
as Aurora’s manipulative
future mother-in-law.
—Mary Green
who’s different and
feeling you have to fight
them instead of embrac-
ing differences. There
are wars because there
are fears of differences,
and desires to destroy or
separate people because
they’re different.
Certainly the idea that
families don’t have to
be one way must have
connected with you.
My children are from
different parts of the
world, so this is sensitive
to me when someone
says, “Because you’re
not alike, you can’t be
their mother.” If I needed
something to make me
get up and fight, it would
be that moment.
I adore her. I think she’s
brilliant. I’m playing a
character that’s supposed
to hate her, but it was
hard not to smile and
just look lovingly at her.
It was so fun, because
you’re only as good as
your sparring partner.
Fairy tales are heightened
portrayals of real human
feelings. How do you think
this story speaks to
contemporary emotions?
Even if you’re Maleficent,
it’s really hard to have
a teenager, and be a par-
ent, and embrace new
things as they come into
your life. On a more seri-
ous note, I think it speaks
about the dangers of
being afraid of someone
2 MALEFICENT:
MOVIES
After the first film, did
you expect a sequel?
No, nobody expected one.
But there were certainly
jokes like “What’s it like
to grow up with a mom
like Maleficent?” “Wait till
Aurora hits the teenage
years.” Now we’re going
to define what Maleficent
is...and then there is
Aurora’s story. We’ve
become a family, but the
rest of the world wasn’t
ready for that.
What was it like going
head-to-head with
Michelle Pfeiffer?
Mistress of Evil
10 NOVEMBER 2019 EW ● COM
DISNEY
