Angelina Jolie wrote directorial debut while 'quarantined' and bored with the flu

Angelina Jolie wrote her upcoming movie In The Land Of Blood And Honey while she was "quarantined" in an attic and left with nothing else to do after falling ill with the flu.

The Salt actress, who makes her directorial and screenwriting debut with the wartime drama, admits she didn't intentionally set out to pen a masterpiece - she was simply bored while undergoing self-enforced home confinement.

In a new Vanity Fair interview, she says, "I had the flu. I had to be quarantined from the children for two days. I was in the attic of a house in France. I was isolated, pacing. I don't watch TV and I wasn't reading anything. So I started writing. I went from the beginning to the end. I didn't know any other way."

But, luckily for Jolie, she had another movie star on hand to give her advice - longtime boyfriend Brad Pitt: "He called and said, 'You know, honey, it's not that bad.'"

And throughout the creative process the beauty turned to the Ocean's Eleven actor for feedback on how to better the script.

She continues, "He'd come in and say what he liked or what he didn't understand. Like any woman, I would listen to most of it and fight a few things. He's been so supportive. But it's hard to separate the person that loves you from the critic, so I don't think he's a fair judge."

Although the final product proved good enough for Hollywood, Jolie wasn't initially planning on suiting up to direct the film herself - she just couldn't rely on anyone else to do the project justice.

She adds, "It was something I didn't trust out of my hands. So, by default, I ended up putting myself in as director."