“ They told me a Mexican would never make it ”

Salma Hayek says she has been told that her age and nationality will prevent her from being successful as an actress.

“They told me that my career would die in the mid-1930s. First of all, they told me that a Mexican would never make it, because at the time, the new generations, it was impossible for a Mexican to have a leading role in Hollywood, ”Hayek, who stars alongside Owen Wilson in the new movie Congratulated, told the PA news agency. “And it was like it wasn’t real – it was like this strange reality that has now become normal.” But not at the time.

Now 54, Hayek says she is thrilled to have triumphed in a tough industry.

“And I think it’s awesome, I’m proud of it, I want to shout it out to the world, because I’ve been told so many times that it couldn’t happen and I almost believed them but I beat and I won, ”said Hayek, adding that she also wants other women to understand that it’s okay to thrive later in life.

“I want other women to realize this, because even in your 30s you feel the pressure, in your 40s you feel the pressure – and late blooming is a beautiful thing,” she said. . “And we are not ‘finished’ yet, nor at any other time. If you are creative, enthusiastic, and curious about life, life can be exciting forever, all the time. “

One of the horrific challenges Hayek has faced in the film industry includes his experience working with Harvey Weinstein on his 2002 hit film, Frida. Last week Hayek told the Evening standard that while the opportunity to work with Weinstein at first seemed like “a dream come true,” it quickly turned into a nightmare. In the past, she has shared that Weinstein sexually harassed her on several occasions and even threatened with violence.

“It was my monster,” she wrote in the New York Times in 2017, claiming that Weinstein once told him “I’m going to kill you, don’t think I can’t”.

Almost a year since Weinstein was sentenced to 23 years in prison for rape and sexual assault, Hayek now says dealing with the trauma of her experience has been an ongoing journey.

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“What is amazing is that I thought I was cured,” she told the Evening standard. “And then it all came out and I realized that I hadn’t healed, I repressed and I faced, I adjusted, I continued, so there was a layer of healing because that didn’t stop me from growing up. But it was very painful for a long time. I had no idea that there were so many other women affected and that it was so deep. It was very shocking. But the fact that we [took action] together it really healed.

Hayek added that she had “moved on”, because “I have lived with it long enough and I am breaking away from it now.”

In full swing these days, Hayek is busy both on and off the movie screen. She has a 13-year-old daughter, Valentina, with her husband, businessman François-Henri Pinault. She also shares her life on social media, including frequently posting sensual photos of herself basking in the sun – which she finds “liberating”. She admitted, however, that while she enjoys posting photos of herself, they aren’t exactly a realistic portrayal of her everyday life.

“I’m glad I took a lot of pictures, I’m not ashamed because it was the first week of vacation,” she said Entertainment tonight last week. “People are fed up but I’m going to let them take a break. They’ll think I wear a bikini every day. No, they’re all from the same place.”

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