Get the latest gossip

Steven Knight On His Approach To Writing ‘Maria’, Finding The Human Version Of The Facts & The “Elton John/Bernie Taupin” Relationship He Shares With Pablo Larraín


Since collaborating on 2021’s Spencer, Steven Knight and Pablo Larraín have developed what the former calls “a very Elton John/Bernie Taupin sort of relationship.”

Since first collaborating on 2021’s Spencer, Steven Knight and Pablo Larraín have developed what the former calls “a very Elton John/Bernie Taupin sort of relationship.” Knight, who wrote Spencer and scripted this year’s Larraín-directed Maria, recently spoke with Deadline about his approach to the story thatt reimagines American-Greek soprano Maria Callas in her final days as she reckons with her identity and life. The movie — Knight eschews the term “biopic” — world premiered to great acclaim at the Venice Film Festival in September, led by a committed performance from Angelina Jolie as the titular opera star. An Oscar nominee for 2004’s Dirty Pretty Things and creator of global phenomenon Peaky Blinders, Knight, as he explains in the Q&A below, relied on firsthand accounts of people who knew Callas, as well as her performances and interviews with the formidable woman who often was treated harshly during her lifetime before succumbing to a heart attack at her Paris home in 1977 at age 53.

Get the Android app

Or read this on Deadline

Read more on:

Photo of Maria

Maria

Photo of steven knight

steven knight

Related news:

News photo

‘Emilia Pérez’ and ‘Maria’ Stars Talk ‘Dream Jobs’ and Working With ‘Great Filmmakers’ at Palm Springs Film Festival

News photo

‘Maria’ Director Pablo Larraín Wanted Production Designer to Create a ‘Jewelry Box’ for Angelina Jolie Because ‘She’s a Jewel’

News photo

Why Were ‘Maria’ and ‘The Room Next Door’ Snubbed From BAFTA Longlists?