Salma Hayek Pinault Considers Angelina Jolie ‘Family,’ Says She Always Feels ‘Safe’ Around Her (Exclusive)

“It's nice to have a friend where you can laugh and cry,” Salma Hayek Pinault says of ‘Without Blood’ director Angelina Jolie

For Salma Hayek Pinault, Angelina Jolie is more than just the director of her latest movie. She is “a family member,” Hayek Pinault, 58, tells PEOPLE on Sunday, Sept. 8, at the Toronto International Film Festival world premiere of Without Blood.

When asked about her longtime friendship with Jolie, 49, Hayek Pinault quips, “What do you mean friendship?” She then notes that the two are much closer than that — and “do things together as a family.”

And when not working, that includes “hang[ing] out sometimes with the kids, but also by ourselves,” the actress continues, adding: “I always find it super inspiring. A friend was telling me, ‘It's the same life whether you laugh or cry.’ And it's nice to have a friend where you can laugh and cry... and feel always safe.”

Related: Angelina Jolie's Son Pax Gives Her Standing Ovation at TIFF Premiere of Without Blood

Hayek Pinault and Demián Bichir lead Without Blood, which Jolie adapted from the 2002 Alessandro Baricco book of the same name. The film is “an unforgettable fable set in the aftermath of an unidentified conflict [which] explores universal truths about war, trauma, memory, and healing," per a synopsis from production company Fremantle.

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On the Italian set of the war drama, Jolie employed her sons, Maddox, 21, and Pax, 18. She previously directed 2011’s In the Land of Blood and Honey, 2014’s Unbroken and 2015’s By the Sea, the latter of which featured Jolie costarring alongside then-husband Brad Pitt.

Without Blood marks the Maria star’s first follow-up collaboration with Hayek Pinault after the two starred in the 2021 Marvel Cinematic Universe installment Eternals.

Related: Watch Salma Hayek Crack Up Her 'Eternals' Costars in Hilarious Gag Reel

"I was surprised, even though we are very close and stuff, but I was [surprised by] how warm and generous and kind she was as a director to the actors," Hayek Pinault said at the PEOPLE/Entertainment Weekly suite in Toronto. “I felt like she was my motherly figure because she would come to the set and run it like a family. She was a very efficient mother, but she was also there emotionally every step of the way.”

She added at the time, "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."

Also starring Juan Minujín, Without Blood will be distributed by Fremantle and is awaiting a theatrical release following its world premiere. The Toronto International Film Festival runs through Sept. 15.

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