Angelina Jolie on the 'absurdity' of directing sex scenes with Brad Pitt: 'It's the strangest thing in the world'

When most people think of the biggest challenges couples face, money, kids and maybe trust come to mind.

But Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt are no normal couple. It's not every day that a wife has to direct her husband on how to make love to her in a movie.

That's the awkward situation Angelina, 40, faced with Brad, 52, while directing their new movie, By the Sea. The dramatic film is about an American couple whose marriage is unravelling in France, but apparently there's at least one intimate moment.

"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," Jolie told Entertainment Weekly. "[And] in front of a bunch of other men with cameras." 

Yikes, that would be a bit awkward. So how did Angelina get through it?

"Love scenes are strange anyway, but when you're doing a love scene with a person that you really have sex with?" she added. "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." 

Still, there were some other kinks to work out.

"I couldn't get out of the bathtub to get to the monitor because the director is naked," she told EW. "We're artists and want to be free, but Brad – it's his wife. He was on towel duty. He'd hold the towel over me."

Have a sneak peek at the finished project in the preview below.