Netflix's "Maria," starring Angelina Jolie, imagines opera singer Maria Callas' last days. The true story of her life was of abuse, drugs, and health issues.

“Callas has always been a fascinating character,” Marc A. Sorca, CEO and president of advocacy group Opera America, tells TODAY. “You could write an opera about her — about someone who made an indelible impression in her 20s and 30s, and by the time she was 40 was finished as a singer. It’s a truly operatic story.”

Yes, Maria is based on the true story of Greek opera singer Maria Callas, who died of a heart attack in 1977, when she was only 53 years old. Maria imagines the last few days of Callas’s life, in which once the once-great opera singer struggles with a drug addiction, hallucinations, and her declining health.