Salma Hayek on Hollywood: 'We are smarter than the chick flicks and romantic comedies they want to sell us'

(Image credit: Clemens Bilan/Getty Images)

last updated 22 May 2015

In a panel titled "Women in Motion" at the Cannes Flm Festival, Oscar-nominated actress Salma Hayek addressed the difficulties faced by women in Hollywood, including sexism, pay disparity, and a general lack of opportunities.

"The only two industries where women make more money than men [are] fashion and pornography, and in those, we are treated as sexual objects. This is an ignorant way of looking at who we are," said Hayek. "We don't want to watch things that promote us as sexual objects."

Hayek went on to address the difficulty she has routinely had in getting cast in projects, including an unspecified sci-fi movie from which she was dropped when the studio said they couldn't imagine "a Mexican in space." Her frustrations have pushed her into more roles as a producer, including Frida, the Oscar-nominated passion project that took her years to get made. "We are smarter than the chick flicks and romantic comedies they want to sell us," she said.

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Scott Meslow is the entertainment editor for TheWeek.com. He has written about film and television at publications including The Atlantic, POLITICO Magazine, and Vulture.

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