All kids on set of “Maleficent” were scared…. except for one!

March 14, 2014

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We’re getting more and more movie scoop on the upcoming Disney film, “Maleficent” starring Angelina Jolie. There is a lot of buzz around the film, not just because it’s a classic story, but also because of the appearance of the main character. Angelina Jolie’s make up for Maleficent is a bit on the scary side, especially for kids. In an upcoming interview for Entertainment Weekly, Jolie spoke about having to cast children for the movie, and most of them were too scared of her in costume. That being said, the child who portrays the young Aurora in the movie is actually her daughter, Vivienne.

“We think it’s fun for our kids to have cameos and join us on set, but not to be actors. That’s not our goal for Brad and I at all,” Jolie says. “But the other 3- and 4-year-old [performers] wouldn’t come near me. It had to be a child that liked me and wasn’t afraid of my horns and my eyes and my claws. So it had to be Viv” said Jolie.

In order to make the other children feel more comfortable with her on the set, she gathered them all together to tell them a more sympathetic story of her character, so they wouldn’t be so afraid. “I said, ‘Let me tell you the real story but you can’t tell anybody,’” she recalls. “So this was my test too, like any parent. The next day, I heard Shiloh getting into a fight with another kid, defending Maleficent, saying, ‘You don’t understand her!’ They got into a bit of an argument and I thought, that’s the reason to do the film.”

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Even though her younger child was ok with the scary Maleficent costume, her older children took some additional convincing to get used to how she looked.

“When Pax saw me for the first time, he ran away and got upset — and I thought he was kidding, so I was pretending to chase him until I actually found him crying,” Jolie says. “I had to take off pieces [of the makeup] in front of him to show him it was all fake and not freak out so much.”

Eventually they got used to it. Pax and Zahara also turn up as extras in the famous christening scene, when Maleficent appears to place the sleeping curse on the kingdom’s infant princess. “I had to walk by them being very mean,” Jolie says. “Of course, I wanted to stop and wink at them.”

I’m sure it was a bit scary for a child to see, even some adults shudder at the Maleficent costume, it’s a bit creepy! I know in my household, we’re looking forward to the opening of this film, can’t wait! Stay tuned to TMSM for more movie info and updates!

Thanks to Entertainment Weekly for the information!

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Michele Atwood Founder & Editor-in-Chief, The Main Street Mouse
Michele Atwood is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of The Main Street Mouse, one of Florida's leading Disney and theme park news sources since 2010. A credentialed Disney Partner and media professional, Michele serves as a theme park contributor and insider for Fox 35 Orlando and WDBO radio covering Disney and Central Florida attractions. Michele has also contributed to the Orlando Sentinel, WESH 2, and Spectrum News 13. Michele is the published author of four books — "Moving to Main Street U.S.A.," "How Many Sleeps Till Disney?," "How Many Sleeps Till Disneyland?" and "Daydream Believing: Confessions of a Grown Up Princess" and is co-owner of the House of Mouse Expo and Lost Princess Apparel. With over a decade of hands-on coverage of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and Central Florida theme parks, Michele brings firsthand expertise and media access to every story she covers.



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