Why Hayek’s not making movies
After 25 years in the movie business, Salma Hayek is struggling to find decent roles.
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.”
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
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.
-
Will Starmer's Brexit reset work?
Today's Big Question PM will have to tread a fine line to keep Leavers on side as leaks suggest EU's 'tough red lines' in trade talks next year
By The Week UK Published
-
How domestic abusers are exploiting technology
The Explainer Apps intended for child safety are being used to secretly spy on partners
By Chas Newkey-Burden, The Week UK Published
-
Scientists finally know when humans and Neanderthals mixed DNA
Under the radar The two began interbreeding about 47,000 years ago, according to researchers
By Justin Klawans, The Week US Published