Angelina Jolie gets back behind the camera to direct Without Blood with Salma Hayek in Rome

Angelina Jolie returned to the director’s chair on Wednesday for her latest film Without Blood in Rome.

The 47-year-old actress, who is behind the camera for the first time in five years, was seen offering her guidance for star Salma Hayek as filming began for the period drama in an area close to the iconic Colosseum.

It comes when Angelina’s ex-husband Brad Pitt revealed that he has embraced a life of abstinence and sobriety after the couple’s surprising divorce in 2016.

Dressed for the warm Italian weather, Angelina cut an elegant figure in a relaxed white camisole and flared trousers when she arrived on set for filming.

The star donned a straw hat while directing the film’s cast for the dramatic scenes.

Meanwhile, Salma donned a black velvet A-line dress with a white overcoat as she prepared to film the scenes on a stairway in the city.

The star later changed into a more revealing black velvet dress with buttons down the bodice, paired with an elegant pearl necklace.

Without Blood is based on the novel by Italian writer Alessandro Baricco and is set in the aftermath of an unidentified conflict.

The film is billed as exploring “universal truths about war, trauma, memory and healing.”

After announcing the film, Angelina said: “I am honored to be here in Italy to film this very special material, and to have been entrusted by Alessandro Baricco with the editing of his book – with its unique poetry and emotion and manner of looking at war, and the questions it poses about what we look for after trauma or loss or injustice,”

It comes when Angelina’s ex-husband Brad revealed that he has embraced a life of abstinence that began shortly after their divorce was finalized in 2016.

In conversation with the latest edition of British GQPitt, 58, insisted that emotional turmoil and deep sadness are an inevitable part of growth.

“I think all our hearts are broken,” he said. “I’ve always felt very alone in my life, only growing up as a kid, even here alone, and it’s really not until recently that I’ve had a bigger hug from my friends and family.

“What is that line, it was Rilke or Einstein, believe it or not, but it was something about when you can walk with the paradox, when you carry real pain and real joy at the same time, this is maturity, this is growth.”

The newly divorced actor spent 18 months attending regular Alcoholics Anonymous meetings while embracing the group’s core tenets: abstinence from all mind-altering substances and honesty about the nature of addiction.

“I had a really cool men’s group here that was very private and selective, so it was safe,” he explained. “Because I’d seen things of other people being taped spitting their guts out, and that’s just horrible to me.”

A lifelong smoker, Pitt also made the decision to cut cigarettes out of his life and instead replace tobacco with nicotine-flavored chewing gum.

The actor moved on after his divorce and has been romantically linked with Nicole Poturalski ever since, winning critical acclaim and awards for his role as hapless stuntman Cliff Booth in Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon A Time In Hollywood.