As Angelina Jolie made her grand entrance on the Venice Film Festival red carpet, smiling for the hordes of cameras in a faux-fur stole and custom-made gown from Australian designer Tamara Ralph, it felt like a seminal moment for the 49-year-old actor.

While she’s been in the public eye most of her life thanks to her famous father Jon Voight, and has been working in Hollywood for over four decades, the past eight years have been a time of deep turmoil for the actor. In many ways, navigating her divorce from Brad Pitt has been far more dramatic than their controversial origin story, which began while he was still married to Jennifer Aniston.

The star has said openly that the acrimonious divorce proceedings prompted her to take a step back from both Hollywood and the public eye in order to ‘heal’. So her highly anticipated role as Maria Callas in the biopic about the opera singer, titled Maria, feels like a significant moment for Jolie. Since her split with Pitt in 2016, Jolie has only starred in two major films: the Disney sequel Maleficent: Mistress Of Evil and the Marvel flop Eternals. Both blockbusters were said to be chosen with her children and an expensive divorce bill in mind. By contrast, Maria, directed by Pablo Larraín, is being touted as a serious Oscar contender for next year’s awards – this Venice premiere the start of that campaign.

Jolie, who says she trained for six months to play Callas, was courted for years by Larraín to play the role of the talented but tormented opera singer. The director says the role was a ‘very difficult’ process for Jolie, who nonetheless navigated the intense nature of its demands well. ‘She can let you in when she wants, and she can create a distance where she wants,’ he has said of working with Jolie.

Critics at Venice largely praised Jolie’s performance, with one review declaring it ‘career-defining’. It’s a major milestone for Jolie, and a welcome one, given she is still embroiled in what’s been described by friends as an ‘emotionally and financially draining’ legal battle with Pitt. The pair are yet to finalise their financial divisions, with the vineyard attached to their South of France home, Château Miraval, the biggest bone of contention, after Jolie allegedly sold her half to a Russian oligarch without first clearing the transaction with Pitt. This follows protracted battles over the custody of their six children, Maddox, Pax, Shiloh, Zahara, Vivienne and Knox, although only two of them now remain under the age of 18 – the age when the courts consider them adults. Recent reports suggest the children have mostly dropped the ‘Pitt’ from their double-barrelled surnames of their own accord upon reaching 18, and intend to be known by their mother’s name from now on – thought to be a show of loyalty to her. Jolie has made claims of abuse by Pitt, which he has always firmly denied.

The children reaching maturity has also freed up Jolie to look to the future and refocus on work. Besides Maria, Jolie has also directed Salma Hayek in Without Blood, due to premiere this week at the Toronto Film Festival. She has been named as the face of Tom Ford Beauty – the first time the luxury house has had a celebrity ambassador. It’s no coincidence these projects have come at the same time.

‘Angelina is ready to start afresh,’ they explain. ‘She has poured her heart and soul into these projects – and has found work an huge source of comfort during the toughest of times. This is the first time in many years that she’s going into awards season with a realistic shot of an Oscar, so that’s exciting. Privately, Angelina would acknowledge that there’s still a great deal to resolve with Brad, and still a lot of healing to do. But she’s feeling great and she couldn’t be more excited about this new chapter.’