Angelina Jolie and Salma Hayek Pinault did not expect a Marvel movie to give them one of the closest friendships of their lives.
The actresses, who met while promoting Eternals in 2019 and later starred in the Marvel film together, have opened up about how much closer they became while making Jolie’s Without Blood. Jolie told People that she had never experienced the same kind of connection, bond and understanding with anyone else.
Hayek described their conversations during production as unusually open. They could debate intensely, cry, hug and then end up laughing together without worrying that the other person would take offense.
The movie is built around trauma, memory and the possibility of communicating with someone on the other side of violence. Hayek stars opposite Demián Bichir, while Jolie adapted, directed and produced the film.
Their Most Intense Conversations Happened While Making ‘Without Blood’
Hayek said the emotional weight of playing Nina sometimes followed her long after filming stopped for the day. In a recent conversation for The Cut, conducted by Jolie herself, Hayek recalled struggling early in production with the anxiety required by the character and worrying that she could not sustain it.
She said there were moments when she would sob while hugging Jolie before returning to work. Conversations that began with a scene could expand into discussions about war, with crew members outside Hayek’s trailer hearing the two women screaming or laughing.
The support continued after they left the set. Hayek remembered calling Jolie in the middle of the night because she still felt Nina’s anxiety and did not know how to let it go. “I could call you at 2 a.m. if I were in a panic,” Hayek told her.
Hayek also said she had never felt as free as an actress as she did making Without Blood. She also said Jolie’s support allowed her to do emotionally difficult work without carrying all of it alone.
Jolie Says They Met at the Right Stage of Their Lives
Jolie believes part of the friendship’s strength comes from when the two women met. They first connected at San Diego Comic-Con in 2019 while promoting Marvel’s Eternals. Jolie told People that meeting later in life meant both had already lived through long careers, motherhood and different personal experiences before arriving at what she sees as a similar place.
“I think it’s so nice we met at this later stage in our life,” Jolie said. “Because we’ve been through so many similar things, experienced different things, and somehow have landed as older women in a very similar place.”
Jolie then explained what the relationship has come to mean to her. “To appreciate that friendship and that bond and that understanding, I haven’t had that kind of a connection in my life.”
Hayek agreed that such a connection is difficult to find and linked that idea directly to Without Blood, which asks whether two people connected by a violent event can truly communicate and understand one another decades later.
The film, adapted from Alessandro Baricco’s novel, stars Hayek as Nina and Bichir as Tito. Brainstorm Media released it in U.S. theaters on Sept. 18.
Hayek Says Jolie Made Her Feel Safe Enough to Take Risks
That sense of trust also changed how Hayek approached the performance itself. She told Jolie during their The Cut conversation that she had initially been afraid to play Nina because the role required her to remain constantly near intense emotion without simply releasing it through tears.
At one point, Hayek believed she had delivered one of the best takes of her career and expected Jolie to praise it. Instead, Jolie challenged the performance because she felt Hayek had leaned too heavily on Nina’s anger and strength instead of the character’s capacity for healing.
Hayek said that kind of direction made her feel unusually seen. She recalled spending earlier parts of her career being valued for her appearance while being discouraged from pushing intellectually or creatively.
Working with Jolie was different. Hayek said she could challenge her director openly because neither woman treated disagreement as a threat to the friendship. Hayek said Without Blood was the first time in her career that she was consulted about who would play opposite her in such an intimate two-hander. She ultimately worked with Bichir, an actor and friend she already knew.
The Friendship Is Already Leading to Another Movie
Hayek is making her theatrical feature directorial debut with Arena, an independently financed romantic adventure that she wrote and in which she also appears. Oscar nominee Yura Borisov and Cara Delevingne are among the stars.
This time, Jolie is one of Hayek’s producers. She has also visited the Arena set and watched her friend take charge from behind the camera.
During their conversation for The Cut, Jolie praised what she had seen. “I saw you on the set of Arena, leading and deciding and taking responsibility for it,” she told Hayek. “You embraced it so fully.”
Jolie also acknowledged the additional difficulty Hayek had given herself by directing material she wrote while acting in the film at the same time.
Hayek said Jolie’s presence even affected her performance. According to the actress, one of her Arena costars told her that she appeared most relaxed as an actor when Jolie was visiting the set because she temporarily seemed less burdened by the pressure of directing herself.