“She knew I was the right actress,” Hayek told EW in 2024.

Angelina Jolie convinced Salma Hayek Pinault to star in Without Blood: ‘I didn’t wanna do the movie’

“She knew I was the right actress,” Hayek told EW in 2024.

By Shania Russell

Shania Russell

Shania Russell is a news writer at *, *with five years of experience. Her work has previously appeared in SlashFilm and Paste Magazine.

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and Shelby Stivale

Shelby Stivale

Shelby Stivale is a senior writer at **. She has been working at EW since July 2026. Her work has previously appeared on Us Weekly and J-14.

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on August 19, 2026 1:53 p.m. ET

- Salma Hayek Pinault spoke to * *at the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival about working with Angelina Jolie on *Without Blood*.

- The film’s trailer dropped on Aug. 19.

- *Without Blood* is set to hit theaters next month.

Salma Hayek Pinault didn’t know if she was meant to star in *Without Blood* — but director Angelina Jolie* *did.

Speaking to ** at the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival, Hayek admitted that she wasn’t initially keen on the role of Nina, a woman who endures both the brutality of war and toil of searching for healing in its aftermath.

“I didn’t want to do the movie. I didn’t want to be Nina,” Pinault said. “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.”

The way Hayek saw it, the film — based on Alessandro Baricco’s novel of the same name — is a “very complicated piece for an actor.” It follows a woman embroiled in a years-long plot of subtle revenge for her family’s horrific murder.

“You have to be on the edge of complete breakdown for the entire movie, and never breakdown,” Hayek explained. “You have to be at the edge every single day, every single hour of the day while you’re playing this character. And there’s nowhere to hide. There’s not a lot of action happening. If for one second you are not there, it is going to be very clear.”**

All of that said, Hayek eventually came around, in large part because of Jolie’s efforts.

“Somehow she convinced me,” she told EW, adding that it took “a lot of long conversations” before she agreed to the emotionally demanding role. So what exactly made Hayek change her mind? Processing what made her hesitate in the first place.

“I realized that even though this character is in very different circumstance, I was afraid to relieve personal trauma that is completely different,” Hayek said. “I think all of us women can identify some of our trauma to it. Being tossed aside. Men always making the important decisions in your life and having sometimes no choice but to go along with it. Being paralyzed by having your power taken away from a really young age. Having trauma and not knowing how to come out of it… And then finding the strength out of hate and anger.”

She added, “So I understood the importance of this character beyond the circumstances of the movie.”

Salma Hayek Pinault stars in fiery trailer for Angelina Jolie’s ‘Without Blood’: ‘How can God forgive you?’

Angelina Jolie moved 'Maria' director to tears by 'burning herself' raw with emotion (exclusive)

As for Jolie’s role as a director, Hayek showered her in high praise.

“This is the best actors director I’ve ever worked with,” she admitted, and did not state it lightly. “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.”

She added that this was a rare situation, where she knew that “I could call my director at three in the morning in absolute despair” because “if [it] meant she came over there in the middle of the night and held me, that’s what she would do.”

*Without Blood* marks Jolie’s sixth directorial effort, after *A Place in Time, In the Land of Blood and Honey, Unbroken, By the Sea,* and *First They Killed My Father. *

*Without Blood* opens in theaters on Sept. 18. Watch the trailer above.**

Original Article on Source

Source: “EW Movies”