“I Was Terrified” – Salma Hayek Explains Why She Initially Turned Down Angelina Jolie’s Without Blood

Salma Hayek Pinault almost said no to Angelina Jolie. Ahead of the U.S. release of Without Blood, she sat down on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon and admitted just how close she came to turning down the role Jolie personally offered her.

Salma Hayek Was ‘Terrified’ Of Her Role in Without Blood

Speaking with Fallon, Hayek Pinault revealed that when Jolie personally called to offer her the lead in Without Blood, her immediate response was not what Fallon expected.

“‘No, thank you,’ I said. ‘No, thank you,’ because it was very intimidating, that part. Very intimidating. I was terrified,” she said.

Hayek Pinault explained the hesitation had nothing to do with confidence in her acting. She said she knew she could deliver a good performance but worried about sustaining that level of emotional intensity for an entire shoot.

“I knew I would be good, but I didn’t know if I was going to be good every day suffering, you know? That’s a lot of suffering. I said, ‘I don’t know, man.'”

She ultimately took the role, and credited Jolie’s direction and her co-star’s performance for making the experience easier than she anticipated.

Without Blood, written and directed by Jolie and based on Alessandro Baricco’s novel, marks Hayek Pinault’s first project with Jolie since the two starred together in Marvel‘s Eternals. The film premiered at the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival and opens in U.S. theaters on September 18.