Despite their lustrous careers, Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie have only starred in two films together – Mr. and Mrs. Smith and By the Sea.

By the Sea marked the end of their professional collaboration as the two ended their long-term relationship shortly after.

Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie

Many speculated that By the Sea, which showed the fictional couple amidst marital problems, was a depiction of Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt’s actual married life.

However, the actress shut down those rumors stating that they are very stable in their relationship. In the film, the ex-couple had to film a few love scenes as well, something which was awkward for both them and those around them.

Angelina Jolie Opens Up About Awkward Love Scenes

Filming intimate or explicit scenes with co-stars can get pretty awkward pretty fast. But what happens when the co-star is your spouse? Talking to Entertainment Weekly, Angelina Jolie opened up about how awkward it was on the set of By the Sea when the lead stars had to film love scenes.

However, to film the love scenes, Jolie and Brad Pitt had to be comfortable and to get comfortable with each other, they had to talk it out.

“Love scenes are strange anyway, but when you’re doing a love scene with a person that you really have s*x with? The only way to get through it was for us to all talk about the absurdity of it and make sure no one was feeling awkward.”

She also stated that since she was also the director of the film, it would get super awkward for everyone as she lay naked in the bathtub, guiding her husband through the love scene.

“It’s the strangest thing in the world to be lying naked in a bathtub with an iPad that’s showing you the shot outside, while your husband is at the door and you’re directing him to come in and make love to you. [And] in front of a bunch of other men.”

All of this was surely a bit uncomfortable for the people present on the sets of By the Sea. But hey, you gotta do what you gotta do for the sake of art!

Brad Pitt Was Protective of Angelina Jolie

A still from By the Sea

Jolie continued talking to Entertainment Weekly where she revealed that Pitt was always on towel duty for her.

In order for the actress to check the shot, she had to walk all the way from the bathtub to the monitor. However, she couldn’t do it without Pitt’s help as she was not wearing anything.

“I couldn’t get out of the bathtub to get to the monitor because the director is naked. We are artists and want to be free, but Brad – it’s his wife. He was on towel duty. He’d hold the towel over me.”

Jolie’s By the Sea was only able to rake in $3 million which is a bit lower than the $10 million budget used to make the film.

Even the critics weren’t a fan of the film. On Rotten Tomatoes, By the Sea has a score of 34%. The consensus states that while the film might be appealing to fans of “a certain type of arthouse cinema” it’s not enough to intrigue the audience.