Why Hayek’s not making movies
After 25 years in the movie business, Salma Hayek is struggling to find decent roles.
A free daily digest of the biggest news stories of the day - and the best features from our website
Thank you for signing up to TheWeek. You will receive a verification email shortly.
There was a problem. Please refresh the page and try again.
After 25 years in the movie business, Salma Hayek is struggling to find decent roles, said Stephanie Rafanelli in The Times (U.K.). She’s tired of the Latina bombshell parts that brought her to stardom. “You can’t be more bottom of the ladder than Mexican, half-Arab, and a woman over 40 in Hollywood,” says Hayek, 47. “Even now I am usually offered the stripper and maid parts. The closest I ever came to a queen was in [Oliver Stone’s 2012 movie] Savages,as the queen of a Mexican drugs cartel.” Fortunately, Hayek can afford to turn down jobs: She is married to French fashion-firm CEO François-Henri Pinault, who is worth an estimated $15 billion. The couple is in the process of moving from Paris to London. “I want to clarify, it’s not for tax purposes,” Hayek says, alluding to France’s recent imposition of a controversial 75 percent tax on high earners. “François thinks London is very cosmopolitan. I think it will be good for my career, too.” Hayek says she “would kill” for a role in the hit British drama Downton Abbey, as unlikely as that may be. “What’s a Mexican going to do in Downton Abbey? I would have to play deaf and dumb.”
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Continue reading for free
We hope you're enjoying The Week's refreshingly open-minded journalism.
Subscribed to The Week? Register your account with the same email as your subscription.
Sign up to our 10 Things You Need to Know Today newsletter
A free daily digest of the biggest news stories of the day - and the best features from our website
-
Cops 'arrest' Chucky doll
Tall Tales And other stories from the stranger side of life
By Chas Newkey-Burden Published
-
'Shocking state of prisons'
Today's Newspapers A round-up of the headlines from the UK front pages
By The Week Staff Published
-
Ten Things You Need to Know Today: 26 September 2023
The Week’s daily digest of the news agenda, published at 8am
By The Week Staff Published