FILM ACTRESS
Salma Hayek
Since Winning the EMMA Award
Salma Hayek is a Mexican-American actress and film producer who has focused on being a producer while starring in the action films Once Upon a Time in Mexico, After the Sunset, and Bandidas. Salma achieved further commercial success with the comedies Grown Ups, its sequel Grown Ups 2, and The Hitman’s Bodyguard. She also lent her voice to animated films such as Puss in Boots and its sequel Puss in Boots: The Last Wish. Salma also earned critical acclaim for her performances in the drama films Tale of Tales, Beatriz at Dinner, and House of Gucci and the Marvel Cinematic Universe film Eternals, which became her highest-grossing live-action film so far.
Salma also won the Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Directing in a Children’s Special for The Maldonado Miracle and received two Primetime Emmy Award nominations, one for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series and the other for Outstanding Comedy Series, for her work on the critically acclaimed comedy-drama series Ugly Betty.
In 2021, Salma was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, and in 2023, Time Magazine named her one of the 100 Most Influential People in the World. In 2023, she appeared as herself in the episode “Joan Is Awful” for the hit Netflix anthology series Black Mirror. Salma also set up her charity, the Salma Hayek Foundation, which previously supported organisations that gave aid to and raised awareness for battered women. It has now branched out to work with disadvantaged children on the streets of Mexico, helping them to overcome problems such as drugs, violence and lack of education. Salma Hayek has been recognised as one of Hollywood’s most potent and influential Latina actresses, and her status as an iconic figure in cinema has cemented throughout the years.
Background (Before 2002)
Salma Hayek was born in Coatzacoalcos, Veracruz, Mexico, to an opera singer and talent scout mother of Spanish descent and an industrial-equipment firm owner father of Lebanese descent making her mix-heritage. At the age of 12, she attended a convent school in Louisiana and lived with her aunt in Houston, Texas, during her teens.
After briefly studying at university in Mexico City, she dropped out to pursue a career in acting and became a telenovela star in Mexico. In 1991, Salma moved to Los Angeles, California to become a Hollywood actress and improve her English. After some small gigs, she landed a role opposite Antonio Banderas in the 1995 film Desperado. Its success gained her work in several mainstream 90s films such as the romantic comedy Fools Rush In, the teen thriller The Faculty, the western horror From Dusk Til Dawn, and the action western Wild Wild West.
Subsequently, Salma began her own production company, Ventanarosa. Her intellectual and passionate approach to filmmaking led to 2002’s Frida, which she both produced and starred in as Frida Kahlo. The film was nominated for six Academy Awards, including a Best Actress nomination for Salma Hayek, making her the first Latin actress to be nominated in that category.
