Salma Hayek Pinault may be leading Angelina Jolie’s Without Blood, but taking on the emotionally intense role was far from an easy yes. In fact, Hayek has been remarkably candid about just how much she initially wanted to stay away from the project. “I didn’t want to do the movie. I didn’t want to be Nina,” Hayek Pinault told Entertainment Weekly while discussing the film at the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival.
The Oscar-nominated actress had a specific reason for hesitating. Playing Nina meant spending weeks immersed in the emotional aftermath of violence, grief and trauma, something Hayek feared would take a personal toll. “I didn’t want to go to the places that she’s been, emotionally,” she explained.
© Getty ImagesBut Jolie believed Hayek was the actress the character needed. After what Hayek described as numerous “long conversations,” the filmmaker eventually persuaded her close friend and former Eternals costar to take the risk.
Why Salma Hayek Did Not Want to Star in ‘Without Blood’
Written, directed, and produced by Jolie, Without Blood is adapted from Alessandro Baricco’s acclaimed novel. The story unfolds in the aftermath of an unnamed conflict and follows Nina, played by Hayek, as she confronts the lasting consequences of her family’s murder.
Demián Bichir stars opposite Hayek as Tito, while Juan Minujín also appears in the film. The story explores war, revenge, memory, trauma and the difficult process of healing.
© Getty ImagesFor Hayek, however, Nina presented an unusually demanding acting challenge. She explained that the character needed to remain close to an emotional breaking point without completely falling apart. “You have to be on the edge of complete breakdown for the entire movie, and never breakdown,” she told EW.
That emotional restraint was part of what frightened her. During another TIFF interview, Hayek said she would have to access places “where trauma lies and hides,” while still preventing those emotions from fully spilling out because of the nature of Nina.
© GC ImagesThe role left little room for an actor to coast through a scene. “There’s nowhere to hide,” Hayek said of the performance.
How Angelina Jolie Convinced Salma Hayek to Play Nina
Jolie did not simply hand Hayek the script and wait for an answer. Their discussions helped Hayek reconsider what initially frightened her about Nina. As she examined the character more closely, she began finding emotional connections between Nina’s experiences and forms of trauma that women can recognize outside the specific circumstances of war.
In an interview at TIFF, Hayek described how the character gradually stopped feeling so distant. She began recognizing elements of her own experiences and those of people close to her in Nina. That realization changed her understanding of the part. “I started seeing myself, my own traumas,” Hayek said while discussing the process.
© Mike Marsland/WireImageSpeaking with EW, she also connected Nina’s story to experiences including being dismissed, losing power and having major decisions made by others. Ultimately, Hayek said she came to understand the importance of Nina beyond the specific events depicted in the film. “Somehow she convinced me,” Hayek said of Jolie.
Salma Hayek Calls Angelina Jolie an Exceptional Actors’ Director
Hayek’s concerns about Without Blood eventually gave way to considerable praise for Jolie’s directing. “This is the best actors director I’ve ever worked with,” Hayek told EW.
For Hayek, Jolie’s strength behind the camera appears to have come partly from understanding what an actor needs when approaching difficult material. “I’ve never felt so valued,” Hayek said, adding that Jolie recognized her ability to play Nina even when Hayek herself was uncertain.
© Penske Media via Getty ImagesHayek expanded on that experience in a 2026 interview with ELLE, saying Jolie was emotionally accessible as a filmmaker and sometimes became visibly moved while watching her performance. She described being able to improvise, rehearse when needed, listen to music, and take the time necessary to reach Nina’s emotional state.
The relationship went beyond conventional director-performer communication. Hayek previously told PEOPLE that she considers Jolie “family” and feels safe around her. She also described Jolie as creating a supportive atmosphere during production, an especially important quality considering the psychological demands of the material.
Angelina Jolie Says ‘Without Blood’ Is About Trauma and Healing
Jolie’s attraction to Baricco’s story was closely tied to themes she has explored throughout her directing career.
Her previous films include In the Land of Blood and Honey, Unbroken and First They Killed My Father. During TIFF 2024, Jolie described Without Blood as a kind of “final chapter” to her filmmaking about war and conflict because this story focuses specifically on what happens afterward.
With the movie now heading to U.S. theaters, Jolie has emphasized its examination of what people carry with them after traumatic events. “Alessandro Baricco’s ‘Without Blood’ examines universal truths about trauma, memory and healing,” Jolie said in a statement announcing the film’s U.S. distribution.
© GC ImagesShe also praised Hayek and Bichir for the emotional vulnerability they brought to the project, saying she hopes their performances encourage the kinds of conversations Baricco intended when writing the novel.
Hayek has been similarly enthusiastic about the finished experience. In July 2026, she called working under Jolie’s direction “a profoundly enriching experience” and praised the filmmaker’s emotional intelligence and sensitivity.
When Does Angelina Jolie’s ‘Without Blood’ Come Out?
After premiering at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2024, Without Blood is finally getting its U.S. theatrical release. Brainstorm Media acquired U.S. distribution rights and will release the film in theaters on September 18, 2026.
© AFP via Getty ImagesThe timing gives new relevance to Hayek’s earlier admission that she nearly turned the film down.
For Jolie, the conviction came much earlier. “She knew I was the right actress,” Hayek told EW. “I didn’t even know I was the right actress at the moment.”
