Angelina Jolie's sons were 'respected' by the Without Blood Crew (exclusive)

Angelina Jolie's sons Maddox and Pax were hard workers on the set of mom's movie Without blood.

Jolie, 49, wrote and directed the drama about the aftermath of the war, which stars Salma Hayek Pinault and Demián Bichir and will have its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2024.

Behind the scenes, the two eldest of Jolie's six children, Maddox, 23, and Pax, 20, worked in the assistant director's department, which serves as a liaison between the director and the other departments.

“They work hard,” recalls Hayek Pinault, 58, in PEOPLE/Weekly entertainment TIFF suite on September 8. Watching her longtime friend interact with Maddox and Pax at work, Hayek Pinault said Jolie was “very professional with them” on set.

“She's demanding. They have the respect of the crew, they were good with the crew and they were very much in their place,” the actress adds. “They didn't treat me the way they treat me outside. They would always say, 'You have to come,' and I would say, 'Okay!' It was kind of fun.”

She adds of Maddox and Pax: “They work hard. They take their work very seriously.”

Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

At the beginning of filming, according to Hayek Pinault, she behaved playfully towards Maddox and Pax.

“It's kind of weird. At first I teased them about it, but then I had to say, 'No. I have to separate myself from them and treat them like professionals because this is disrespectful,'” she recalls.

Her daughter Valentina, 16, with husband François-Henri Pinault was also present on set, says Hayek Pinault, and having children around made the process “so pleasant and beautiful” while dealing with subjects that require the characters to “suffer so much.” The actress describes the atmosphere on Jolie's set as “like home.”

She and Jolie starred together in the 2021 Marvel film EternalHayek Pinault says of their dynamics: “In [Eternals] I was kind of a mother figure to her. In this film, I felt like she was my mother figure because she came on set and ran everything like a family.”

“She was a very efficient mother, but she also supported us emotionally every step of the way,” adds Hayek Pinault.

Jolie recently spoke with The Hollywood Reporter about Maddox and Pax being on set with her, noting that they also worked as assistant directors on her upcoming film MaryDirected by Pablo Larraín. “They've done this a few times and I think it's good for them. Pax usually does stills and gets called in and Pablo was wonderful and realized he was good at it.”

She is also mother of Zahara (19), Shiloh (18) and 16-year-old twins Knox and Vivienne, with whom Jolie worked in the Tony-winning production team behind Broadway’s The Outsiders.

“They're a little older and becoming more independent. I'm needed less, so I can go away for different periods of time. And they're old enough to be with me at work,” Jolie said. THR. “It's a new phase in our lives. I'm very happy that they are finding themselves more and more every day.”