Salma Hayek ( born 2 September 1966) is a Mexican actress, director, television and film producer. Hayek’s charitable work includes promoting awareness against violence against women and ending discrimination against immigrants.
Hayek is the first Mexican to be nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress. Salma Hayek is one of Mexico’s most notable Hollywood actors after silent film actress Dolores Del Rio. She is also the third of three Latin American actresses to be nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress, behind Fernanda Montenegro (while another of these three actresses is Catalina Sandino Moreno).
In July 2007, The Hollywood Reporter ranked Hayek at number four in the opening issue of the Latino Power 50 list of the most influential members of Hollywood’s Latin community. During the same month, Hayek was voted the “most attractive (sexy) personality” in a poll out of 3,000 celebrities (male and female), according to the poll, “65 percent of the US public rated Hayek for Will use the word ‘sexy'”. In December 2008, Entertainment Weekly ranked Hayek 17th on its list of “The 25 Smartest People to Come on TV”.
Early Life
Hayek was born in Coatzacoalcoz, Veracruz, Mexico. Hayek Diana Jimenez is the daughter of Medina, an opera singer and talented scout and oil company executive, Sami Hayek Dominguez. Sami Hayek Dominguez was once a candidate for the mayor of Coatzacoalcoz.
Hayek’s father is a Mexican of Lebanese origin who emigrated to Mexico City, while his mother is a Mexican of Spanish descent. His first name is ‘Salma’, an Arabic word meaning “fearless”. He was raised in a wealthy, religious Catholic family. At the age of twelve he was sent to the Academy of the Sacred Heart, Grand Cotu, Louisiana.
There it was discovered that he had dyslexia. She was also a proficient gymnast who aspired to participate in the Olympics, but her father stopped her from joining the Mexican national team. The sister who ran the academy (religiously) expelled her from the academy citing problems with her behavior, so she returned to Mexico.
She was later sent to Houston, Texas to live with her aunt, where she lived until the age of 17. He attended college in Mexico City, where he studied international relations at the Universidad Iberoamericana. To the surprise of her family, she dropped out to pursue her future as an actress.
Career
At the age of 23, Hayek landed the title role in Teresa (1998), a successful limited-issue telenovela in Mexico that made her a star in Mexico. In 1994, Hayek starred in the film El calijón de los milagros (Miracle Alley), which has won more awards than any other film in the history of Mexican cinema. Hayek was nominated for an Ariel Award for his performance.
Hayek moved to Los Angeles, California in 1991 to learn acting under the guidance of Stella Adler. In English, he was able to speak only limited, which was actually due to his suffering from dyslexia. Robert Rodriguez and his producer wife Elisabeth Avelon soon gave Hayek the opportunity he needed, a lead role in the 1995 film Desperado opposite Antonio Banderas. The film caught the attention of Hollywood, as moviegoers were astonished to see Hayek, like Rodriguez. Due to Hayek’s loyalty to the director, he later declined to cast Catherine Zeta-Jones in the film Mask of Zorro when Rodriguez left the film.
Hayek starred alongside Matthew Perry in the romantic comedy Fool’s Rush In. She had a brief but memorable role as the Queen of Vampires in From Dusk Till Dawn, following the success of Desperado, in which she danced a snake over a table. In 1999, she starred opposite Will Smith in the big-budget film Wild Wild West and had a supporting role in Kevin Smith’s Dogma. In 2000, Hayek starred in Traffic with Benicio del Toro, a role for which he did not take credit. In 2003, he reprized his role in Desperado in Once Upon a Time in Mexico, the last of Marachi’s three parts.
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Around 2000, Hayek started a film production company, Ventanarossa, through which he began making film and television programs. Hayek was a co-producer of the 2002 film Frida. The film starred Alfred Molina as Hayek and her unfaithful husband Diego Rivera as Frida Kalo, the film was directed by Julie Temer and featured several supporting and minor roles (Valeria Golino, Ashley Tadd, Edward Norton). , Geoffrey Rush) and several more stars in a small but prominent role (Antonio Banderas). She was nominated for Best Actress at the Academy Awards for her performance in this film.
“In the Time of Butterflies”, released in 2001, was based on a book of the same name by Julia lvarez and featured the lives of the Mirabal sisters. Marc Anthony briefly played Minerva’s first love, which inspired Minerva’s revolutionary activities.
In 2003, Hayek produced and directed a Showtime film The Maldonado Miracle which won him a Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Directing in Children’s/Youth/Family Programs. In December 2005, he directed a music video for Prince called “Te amo corazon” (“I love you, sweet heart”) featuring Hayek’s best friend Mia Maestro.
Hayek is the executive producer of Ugly Daughter, a television series that has been airing worldwide since September 2006. Also produced by ABC under the direction of Silvio Horta. Hayek made a guest appearance in Ugly Daughter as a magazine editor, Sofia Reyes. She also made a special appearance as an actress in a telenovela featured in the same show.
The show quickly became a hit in terms of merit and popularity, and was also awarded the Golden Globe Award for Best Comedy Series in 2007. Hayek most recently starred in 30 Rocks as a nurse caring for Jack Donaghy’s mother, who is loved by Jack. Hayek will play Adam Sandler’s wife in Grown Ups, which co-stars Chris Rack and Kevin James.
Personal life
Hayek is naturally a US citizen. She was in a relationship with actor Edward Norton from 1999 to 2003 and then with Josh Lucas in 2003. She is a good friend of Spanish actress Penelope Cruz, and Hayek starred with her in the 2006 film Bandidas. Hayek attended Ramtha School of Enlightenment. When she was cast for the role of Frida Kalo, she smoked a real cigarette to play the character.
On March 9, 2007, Hayek confirmed that she was expecting her first child with PPR CEO François-Henri Pinault. On 18 July 2008, Hayek and Pinault announced the end of their engagement. Later they reconciled and in 2009, they got married in Paris on Valentine’s Day. They remarried on 25 April 2009 in Venice. In February 2006, she donated $25,000 to a shelter for neglected women in Cozacoalcos, Mexico, and $50,000 to Monterey-based anti-domestic violence groups.
Since the birth of her daughter, she has helped mothers in developing countries around the world and together with Pampers and UNICEF help prevent life-threatening tetanus for mother and newborn. Salma Hayek also advocates breastfeeding for babies as it boosts their immune system and has many other benefits.
Respect
In October 2001, she was awarded the Woman of the Year award by Glamor magazine.
Awarded the Celebration of Diversity Award by the Producers Guild of America in 2003.
Awarded the Best Artist of the Year Award by the Harvard Foundation in February 2006.
Awarded the 25 Most Influential Latin American Personalities Award by Time magazine in 2005.