Earthy sensuality combined with fiery confidence – that’s Salma Hayek for you! Read through the following biography to know more about this woman of substance and Latin beauty who continues to steal millions of hearts even as she completes her seventeenth year in the film industry.
People often say that ‘beauty is in the eye of the beholder,’ and I say that the most liberating thing about beauty is realizing that you are the beholder. This empowers us to find beauty in places where others have not dared to look, including inside ourselves.
~ Salma Hayek
Most fondly remembered as Carolina from the Antonio Banderas starrer Desperado and Rita Escobar from the Will Smith starrer Wild Wild West, Salma Hayek is one of the leading Hollywood actresses of Latin descent who made it real big in the movie industry despite the industry’s latent discrimination against artistes of Hispanic ethnicity in terms of offering good roles and major characters in films. Here is her brief biography that will familiarize you with this queen of countless hearts and allow you a peek into the trials and tribulations she went through to reach where she stands today.
Birth and Early Life
Salma Hayek was born on September 2, 1966, as Salma Valgarma Hayek Jiménez-Pinault to Spanish opera singer, Diana Jiménez Medina and Lebanese oil company executive, Sami Hayek Dominguez in Coatzacoalcos (Veracruz, Mexico). She was raised as a Roman Catholic and went to the Academy of the Sacred Hearts in New Orleans (Louisiana) when she was twelve years old. During this time and for most of her teenage years, she stayed in Houston with her aunt. She studied International Relations at the Universidad Iberoamericana in Mexico City for some time before dropping out. While she was still in school, she was diagnosed as suffering from dyslexia.
Career and Hollywood Break
Her first brush with fame came in 1989 when she starred as the titular character in the Mexican short run television series Teresa. This brief stint on television, made Salma, only 23 years old then, a star all over Mexico. Thereafter, she moved to Los Angeles so that she could improve her English in order to give shape to her dreams of making it big as a successful, famous actress in Hollywood. Salma got her first lead role in Hollywood opposite Antonio Banderas in the 1995 blockbuster Desperado, which was directed by Robert Rodriguez and produced by his wife Elizabeth Avellan. Although her Hollywood debut, Desperado was her second motion picture after the multiple award-winning Mexican blockbuster film El Callejon de los Milagros. She received an Ariel Award nomination in the category of Best Actress for this movie.
There was no looking back for her after the success of Desperado. Salma Hayek, the actress, the star, the personification of glamor and sensuality, had arrived. Fair Game happened next, followed by the likes of From Dusk Till Dawn, Fools Rush In and Wild Wild West. By this time, she had carved a niche for herself in Hollywood. She became one with the glitz and glamor of celebrity-hood while, at the same time, maintaining a rare class of her own.
Film Production and Other Works
The year 2000 marks the beginnings of a new chapter in the life of Salma Hayek as around this time, she laid the foundations of her production company, Ventanarosa. The idea of film production was there in her mind for some time but the idea of starting her own production company became stronger when she produced El Coronel No Tiene Quien Le Escriba, which ended up as Mexico’s official entry to the Oscars in the Best Foreign Film category. Subsequently, she got involved in a lot of film production ventures such as Frida, In The Time of the Butterflies and the Maldonado Miracle (which she herself directed). She is also an executive producer of the television series Ugly Betty. Talented to the core as she is, Salma has also recorded songs for the movies Desperado, Frida and Once Upon a Time In Mexico. She has modeled for luxury brands like Chopard and Campari.
Charitable Activities
Salma Hayek is a veteran activist on spreading awareness on issues like violence against women, and discriminatory treatment of immigrants. Since long, she has been actively involved in the cause of institutions that provide shelter to battered women and victims of domestic violence. She is a proactive advocate of breastfeeding and has organized many campaigns to spread awareness regarding the benefits of breastfeeding.
Movies of Salma Hayek
Here is a list of Hollywood movies that Salma Hayek has starred in since her Hollywood debut in 1995. Check out the following filmography to trace the journey of this gorgeous Latina beauty into the hearts of the global audience:-
- Desperado
- Fair Game
- From dusk Till Dawn
- Follow Me Home
- Fled
- Breaking Up
- Fools Rush In
- Studio 54
- The Hunchback
- The Faculty
- The Velocity of Gary
- Wild Wild West
- Dogma
- Chain of Fools
- Timecode
- Hotel
- Traffic
- Frida
- In The Time Of The Butterflies
- Once Upon A Time in Mexico
- Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over
- Ask the Dust
- After the Sunset
- Lonely Hearts
- Bandidas
- Cirque Du Freak: the Vampire’s Assistant
- Across The Universe
- Grown Ups
Some of her upcoming movies include the Puss in Boots, Americano, Savages and Here Comes the Boom. while Puss in Boots and Americano are in post-production stage, Savages and Here Comes the Boom are still being filmed.
That, precisely, sums up Salma Hayek’s biography. Her down-to-earth persona, despite her towering celebrity status and phenomenal success as an actor, is commendable. She continues to inspire women with her unfaltering confidence and laudable poise despite being part of turbulent ocean that is Hollywood. Indeed, as wine gets better with age, this ever-gorgeous, spirited lady continues to entrance her fans all over the world with her sensual beauty and power packed performances. On a concluding note, I would like to quote her, even as she confesses:
I’ve stolen a couple of hearts and they are in my private collection!
Rightly said, Salma!
