woody allen blake lively
CNN  — 

Blake Lively has worked with Hollywood’s top directors, but she says there’s something very special about Woody Allen.

Lively, who stars in her first Allen film, “Café Society,” due out later this summer, says that it’s fascinating to work with a director who can film scenes in just one take. “It’s really cool to work with a director who’s done so much, because he knows exactly what he wants,” Lively told “Hamptons Magazine. “The fact that he does one shot for an entire scene – [and] this could be a scene with eight people and one to two takes – it gives you a level of confidence because when he’s got it, he knows he’s got it.”

“Café Society,” is a love story set in a 1930s NYC, and also stars Jesse Eisenberg, Steve Carell, and Parker Posey. But it’s not just Allen’s directing style that’s refreshing, Lively says that the atmosphere on set is really “pleasant.” “Everybody’s just happy to be there and happy to be making a movie, and happy to be a part of film history,” Lively said. “For him to have that confidence in you almost gives you the confidence in yourself to just go with the flow.”

Lively is currently starring in the the thriller “The Shallows” about a shark attack. “Café Society,” premieres July 15.