Angelina Jolie was the one to bring a “maternal energy” to the sets of the 2024 film Without Blood, says Salma Hayek Pinault, who leads the cast alongside Demián Bichir. Speaking at the Toronto International Film Festival, Hayek reflected on the film and the time that she spent playing Nina. Jolie, who wrote and directed Without Blood, was the one who convinced Hayek for the role, as stated by the Frida actress.
“I was surprised, even though we are very close and stuff, but I was how warm and generous and kind she was as a director to the actors. It was really something. I’ve worked with great directors that are really focused, but maybe because she’s also an actress… everything that maybe she wished somebody would’ve done for her, she did for us,” Salma Hayek told People and Entertainment Weekly at the event.
Opening up about her bond with Jolie, who is also her longtime friend, the actress added, “In Eternals, I was a little bit of a mother figure to her. In this movie, I felt like she was my motherly figure because she would come to the set and run it like a family.” Hayek also explained how Angelina Jolie was a very “efficient mother and was present every step of the way emotionally.”
For those unaware, Hayek and Jolie have worked together in the 2021 Marvel film Eternals.
During the conversation, Salma Hayek also admitted that she wasn’t very keen on playing a character who endures the pain of a war and its aftermath. “I didn’t want to go to the places that she’s been, emotionally. So I told Angie, I don’t want to do this woman. I don’t want to. It’s too painful. It’s taken so many years for me to get to a place in my life where I’m really happy. I don’t want to go suffer for weeks and weeks,” she shared.
After all of it, the actress eventually agreed due to Jolie’s efforts, which included a “lot of long conversations.” She praised her friend-director for her work in the film. “She is the best director I’ve ever worked with. I’ve never felt so valued. She knew I was the right actress. I didn’t even know I was the right actress at the moment,” Hayek said.
Without Blood marks Angelina Jolie’s sixth directorial venture. The film recently premiered at the Toronto Film Festival.
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