Why Angelina Jolie Calls Salma Hayek Her 'Oxygen' as They Interview Each Other for 'Without Blood'

Am I easier to direct or to hang out with? Are you easier to direct or hang out with? Oh, I can't answer that because it's like having two totally different aspects of our relationship that I enjoy. I feel like when we're in that mode of directing, I feel like... But I'm more focused in that mode. Yeah, but it's a different thing. We're in process together. For anybody who has that friend or that person, you're in it. You're up in the middle of the night. You're trying to solve something and you feel you've got that real... Maybe I even love working with you more. Yeah. Because I think I like to solve things and be kind of in the... She's very focused. I'm all over the place and she's trying to get me to calm down and get things right, which I need. I really need that in my life. That's hilarious. But I'm more hardworked when I'm with... No, she's like my oxygen because I can get very heavy. We're very good for each other. I love you, but listen to me. Only E.T. got The Eternals co-stars turned besties of seven years to ask each other some burning questions. The two A-listers are reuniting for Without Blood in theaters now with Salma on screen and Angie behind the camera. Do you remember that day? All I ever wished for was for that moment to come back. What side of me did you discover through Without Blood that you didn't know before? She knows it all. Yeah, that's tough. She knows everything about me. That's why she cast me on it. That's true. I was excited every day to see the work you were doing as a director and as a fellow actor. But I knew it was in you. But I was so excited. And you did surprise me with certain choices or certain things you would do or ideas you would have. But I wasn't completely surprised because I know how... I think this one discovered things about me that no one has discovered about me. And that some of them other people will discover when they watch the film. Yeah, I hope that. I hope people see this and they discover the woman that I know and the depth of her in a way that maybe you don't often see because she's so talented in so many ways and she's so stunning and she's so fun and she's so bright. But to see this other side of her that really shows her craft and her intellect and her depth, I think, not as much a surprise for me, but I hope it's... A surprise to what? I hope it's a little surprise to some people maybe that don't know her as well as I do. Angelina co-wrote, co-produced and directed the drama. Salma plays a war survivor seeking revenge on those who hurt her as a young girl. Demian Bashir co-stars. You have come here to find me. Do you remember? I remember everything. It took some convincing for you to accept this role. What finally changed your mind? We know each other too well. I know the answer to all her questions. It's really hard to say no to Angie, but it was amazing conversations about it. I was afraid that I couldn't do it, that I was not good enough. I was afraid to suffer. Before I knew it, I was already inside of the character and I could not not do it. But I was still afraid and she liked it that I was afraid. And then we overcame some of my own fears. She helped me. Revenge is a drug that allows us to fight. What else do you know about me? Based on a book, this project marks the mom-to-sixth forced stint as a director on a war film. Now the next question is, this story came to you ten years and has stayed with you. What did you take from it that changed the way you see your own life? How honest do I want to get with entertainment tonight? I think we all are in a process of trying to understand. Yes, the bigger picture of this film is conflict and life and many global issues and humanity. But also we all personally have, I think, relate to this story. And I'm not exempt from that. I can think of things in my life, and I'm sure I did. And why the book resonated with me is where I broke in my life, or who I'd like to sit at that table with, or what I'm trying to understand. So I think that anytime you put something forward, you think this is something that I need or is helping me. And I hope it brings up that for someone else. Yeah, because the movie is really about our own need to be heard and our own courage to be open to listen to someone else. And it's set up in a war that is a fictitious war. But different than some of the other war movies that Angie has directed, this is also about our own personal wars. For me it was, I think for anyone who sees it, it will remind you of your childhood maybe, of yourself, or moments in your life where you wonder why there was so much injustice towards you, or you were not loved enough or protected enough. Everyone, men and women, everyone will identify with these characters. And will make you rethink of your life. Angie also made this movie a family affair. We worked on the film together and we do a lot of work together. Her eldest sons Maddox and Pax both worked behind the scenes with Mom in the assistant director department. What gives you hope these days? Wow. Oh God. Why did I get that one? Laughter, laughter gives us hope. The young people, I have my, you know, kind of with a fresh fight to, you know, keep, make things better, try to understand more, try to attack this life and try to do something with it and try to still be creative. I think it's like seeing the beginnings of a journey for, you know, our children of similar age. So like seeing that beginning where they're still feeling like They're vulnerable, they're open, they're not as... I think you get to our age and you just, you carry a lot of... And you worry when you're a parent too, so you just... I think so. I think it's that, yeah. And maybe the world communicating a little more for all the negatives of a lot of the technologies and things happening, I think people are more able to travel to each other, speak to each other, be together, and I'm hoping that somehow that connectivity will bring some change. I don't know. It's not a very fun answer. No, no, it's a good answer. The movie is about connectivity, so it's a very... Communication. Something you wish you could tell your younger self. Like what about you today maybe that you think you've come to understand that you would want to tell your younger self? I think that's what the question's asking. This reminds me of one conversation, like 3 o'clock in the morning, my time in London, when we were actually talking about the character in the movie. And we talked about how I felt about me talking to my younger self. Because this is a movie where, for my character, something terrible happens to her as a little girl. Everybody asks that question. But it was very interesting the way we asked it to ourselves in the context of the movie. And I always answer something different because there's so many things that we could say to our younger self. But I think we kind of keep our younger selves close to us even now. And I feel that I just turned 60. And I think that all the different ages of me are now together, sometimes observing what's happening to me now. So for me, it's more like an ongoing conversation now because there's a lot I can learn from that younger self. And now I find it more interesting thinking, how can I talk to my future self than my younger self? Oh, that's interesting. Because maybe you wanted me to say what I've said before, like, oh, you should exercise. But, you know, it's too late for that now. She's not going to do it. But I want my future self to tell me what should I be doing now. And guess what? She's saying, exercise is never too late.