Salma Hayek on Facebook.
Salma Hayek makes waves as More’s October covergirl. As a Mexican soap star, she had to overcome a Hollywood that mocked her dream. But Salma kept fighting and had the last laugh with film and TV success. The issue hits newsstands on Tuesday September 25th.
On being “Chubby:” “I’m not a skinny girl,” she says. “I push it. I’m at the limit of chubbiness at all times, but I’m happy at all times”…“Everybody has a weakness,” she says. “Mine is food. If you love food and you love red wine and they put you in France, you’re in a good place and you’re in a bad place at the same time.” She laughs. “You have to weigh yourself every day, and you have to have an alarm number. When you get to that number, you have to start putting it in reverse”…“I don’t have stamina in exercise…but I have it in life.”
Love keeps her in Shape/On her baby weight: “I think if I was not in love, I would probably let myself go faster. Love gives me the vanity to continue. I’m not necessarily vain, but when I gained fifty-something pounds in the pregnancy, it did something to me. Since then, at least I make an effort.”
On “Sexting” with her Husband, François-Henri Pinault: She (even) teases a little, mentioning the intimate texts she receives from her husband, François-Henri Pinault, the French CEO of the luxury-brands firm PPR, whose labels include Gucci and Balenciaga. “Of course, I can show you a text that would surprise you,” she murmurs sexily. “I can show you a thousand things. But I’m not going to.”
On being a strong woman with her husband: “My God, you have a partner who’s there with you and for you,” she says enthusiastically. “I have a master of decision making helping me out, so of course my life and my career are better. I really enjoy having somebody that I can be weak with. If I’m insecure or afraid, I can talk about it, and he’ll give me strength and courage. I noticed in the past, a lot of guys who like strong women, they really freak out if you’re not strong 24/7. Or they complain about you being strong, then the moment you’re not strong, they’re like, ‘Oh, no, no, no.’ With us, there’s no power struggle. I don’t mind doing things for him because he does so much for me, and he feels the same way.
Overcoming Hollywood Mocking Her Dreams: “(I) started from the bottom all over again. I was prepared to be unknown, but I was not prepared to be rejected so many times and to be made fun of because I came from a Mexican soap opera. It was almost like, ‘How dare you think you can be an actress here?’ Like I was a stupid person for considering that possibility.” She chortles in triumph. “God, we set them straight! I was smart enough to understand that the consumer power of over 40 million Latinos in this country eventually was going to weigh on [Hollywood] and that these people would want to see themselves reflected.”….My daughter can always say that: ‘My mom was this actress from Mexico who was nominated for an Oscar.’ ”
On the best thing that ever happened to her: Not giving birth until age 41 was “the best thing that ever happened to me,” she says. “I think I’m a better person now, I understand things better now, so I can be a better guide. I’ve done a lot of things with my life that I’m satisfied with. So I don’t have the sensation that a child is limiting me. If I sometimes have to stop everything and just be a mother, I’m like, ‘Ooh, that’s cool. I love it.’ It’s different for everyone, but in my case, it was better to do it now. Not mention I found the right guy now, too.”
On Success not equating to Happiness: In her thirties she suffered from a relentless insecure period. “I could have done anything. I could have played anyone,” she says, “but I never got the chance. And I was very frustrated for a long time. But then I became so happy about other things in my life that it didn’t matter anymore. A good career – it’s a great thing to have. But I see a lot of people with great careers who are not happy people.
Hayek on thinking all marriages were miserable: Hayek sounds giddily, happily married, which thrills her, because she didn’t think she could be. Though she’d had her share of high-profile boyfriends, including the actor Edward Norton, “I didn’t think marriage worked,” she says. “I thought everybody who was married was secretly miserable—that it was something they just put up with for their children.”
Her Happiness Today: Hayek enjoys her work more than ever—“now that I don’t have to work,” she interjects, laughing and swatting my arm. “It’s so much more fun! The minute I didn’t have that huge pressure over my shoulders, I started getting more work.”…..I feel more relaxed,” she says. “I don’t have to prove something. I don’t have that urge of ‘Something’s missing, gotta get out there and find it somehow.’”…”I was always dreaming big,” she sums up, “but my life is better than anything I dreamed.”
Jada Pinkett Smith on Hayek’s direction to perform naked in a music video: “I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been asked to take my clothes off, but Salma asked me once, and it’s done. It’s not even a question,” says Pinkett Smith. “That goes to show you how much I trust and adore her. She (Hayek) said, ‘I need you to be courageous! This is the power they try to steal from us – you must show it! Her passion is just contagious…Life in general is difficult for women, the patriarchal culture that we live in and also this Hollywood game. Sometimes you can get very disconnected from your deepest sense of self. But she’s someone who can naturally connect to it and understand it. Every time I’m with her, she has something to offer me.”
On why she takes certain roles, and working with Kevin James, and Adam Sandler: “I take things (roles/projects) for a lot of reasons that make no sense for anyone else,”…I love them (James/Sandler) and their wives. I’ll go with them anywhere, I don’t care what the movie is. Because we have fun, they take care of my child, it’s a great family environment.”
