Salma Hayek's Journey to the Heights of Hollywood

The A-list actress, producer and director channeled her versatility and talent for success

by Ernesto Lechner, AARP, September 28, 2021

Thomas Niedermueller/Getty Images

Salma Hayek is one of the most successful movie stars to emerge from Latin America. The actress, producer and director is known for her talent, depth and taste for selecting a wide variety of projects. The daughter of a businessman and an opera singer, Hayek was born Sept. 2, 1966, in the coastal town of Coatzacoalcos in Veracruz, Mexico. From her beginnings as a leading lady in a Mexican telenovela to her latest role in Marvel’s Eternals, the Oscar-nominated actress has proven time and again that she has staying power both on-screen and behind the camera. Here’s a look at her career journey so far.

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PHOTO BY: Mezcal Entertainment

A start on the small screen

Salma Hayek was only 22 when Mexican media giant Televisa selected her as the leading lady for the popular 1989 telenovela Teresa. The series ran for two years (125 episodes), and her talent made her a star in Mexico. Despite only speaking Spanish, two years later Hayek moved to Los Angeles in pursuit of stardom. She took English classes and acting lessons, and it wasn’t long before she began getting roles in films.
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PHOTO BY: Cortesía Alameda Films/México/Mezcal Entertainment

A leap into film

In 1995, Hayek starred in the Mexican film Midaq Alley, which transposed a novel by Egyptian Nobel Prize laureate Naguib Mahfuz from 1940s Cairo to downtown Mexico City in the 1990s. Her portrayal of Alma, a passionate young woman who is seduced by a man and ends up becoming a sex worker, earned her a nomination for Mexico’s prestigious Ariel Award — that country’s equivalent of the Oscar. Helmed by veteran director Jorge Fons, Midaq Alley proved that Hayek was ideally suited for complex dramatic roles and could leave behind the world of soap operas.
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PHOTO BY: COLUMBIA PICTURES/Allstar Picture Library Ltd./Alamy Stock Photo

Achieving mainstream success

The timing was perfect for Hayek’s Hollywood conquest. At the time, filmmaker Robert Rodriguez was enjoying the success of his low-budget feature El Mariachi (1992) — a game changer for action films in the '90s — and getting ready to shoot a sequel with the financial backing of a major studio. Projecting self-confidence and feisty energy in the starring role of Carolina, Hayek got significant attention in Desperado (1995), her passport into mainstream success. Her collaboration with Rodriguez continued the following year on the pulpy vampire flick From Dusk Till Dawn, including her now iconic snake dance.
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PHOTO BY: PRODUCCIONES AMARANTA/Album

Moving into production

Leaving genre films behind, Hayek secured her first role as a leading lady in a mainstream romantic comedy with Fools Rush In. The 1997 film, about the chemistry and serendipity that bring together a couple falling in and out of love, secured her an ALMA Award nomination. A year later, she created her own production company called Ventanarosa and secured financing for an adaptation of the Gabriel García Márquez novella No One Writes to the Colonel. In 1999, she starred alongside Will Smith and Kenneth Branagh on the commercial and artistic flop Wild Wild West, one of the most expensive movies ever made.
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PHOTO BY: AF archive/Alamy Stock Photo

An extraordinary butterfly

In 2001, Hayek’s Ventanarosa partnered with Showtime for a lush adaptation of the Julia Alvarez novel In the Time of the Butterflies, about the tragic lives of the Mirabal sisters under the Rafael Trujillo dictatorship in the Dominican Republic. Hayek was seamless in the role of Minerva Mirabal, but Edward James Olmos was miscast as a vaguely threatening Trujillo. The excellent production values signaled a new maturity for the depiction of Latino themes in American film.
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PHOTO BY: Photo 12/Alamy Stock Photo

Her magnum opus

By 2002, Hayek was ready to release her magnum opus: a mystically tinged, gorgeously shot biopic about the life and travails of iconic Mexican painter Frida Kahlo. Hayek transformed herself — in looks, spirit, and soul — into a living incarnation of Kahlo. She coproduced the film, enlisting such collaborators as director Julie Taymor, cinematographer Rodrigo Prieto and composer Elliot Goldenthal. She was nominated for an Academy Award as best actress, losing to Nicole Kidman as Virginia Woolf in The Hours.
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PHOTO BY: TOUCHSTONE/Allstar Picture Library Ltd./Alamy Stock Photo

A barrier-breaking megahit

Demonstrating a keen understanding of popular culture, Hayek acted as executive producer of the successful television dramedy Ugly Betty, starring America Ferrera. An adaptation of the Colombian telenovela Yo soy Betty, la fea, the ABC show managed to bridge the heartfelt sensibility of Latin American popular culture and the fast-paced vibe of mainstream TV. Its four seasons and 85 episodes ran from 2006 to 2010.
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PHOTO BY: MILLENNIUM FILMS/EMMETT/FURLA FILMS/EQUITY PICTURES MEDIENFO/Album

Evolving into new roles

In Lonely Hearts (2006), Hayek’s classic look made her a perfect fit for a film noir set in the 1940s. She is particularly expressive as real-life serial killer Martha Jule Beck, one-half of a criminal couple on a murder rampage and a wonderful counterpart to costar Jared Leto. In 2011, she shone alongside Geraldine Chaplin in the French production Americano, evoking the contained pain and hopelessness of a dancer working in a Tijuana nightclub.
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PHOTO BY: PROPHET SCREEN PARTNERS/Allstar Picture Library Ltd./Alamy Stock Photo

Exploring animation

Always conscious of her Lebanese heritage — Hayek's name means “peace” in Arabic — Hayek produced the animated film The Prophet in 2014, an ambitious adaptation of the soulful fables contained in the book of the same name by the Lebanese American poet Kahlil Gibran. Containing segments directed by different filmmakers, the resulting feature film is uneven, but there’s much to love in the striking visuals. The actress also lent her voice to the role of widowed mother Kamila.
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PHOTO BY: Marvel Studios

No slowing down

Turning 50 in 2016 only reaffirmed Hayek’s prolific path as actress and producer. In 2020, she teamed up with acclaimed British director Sally Potter for the experimental drama The Roads Not Taken, alongside Javier Bardem. And this fall, fans will see Hayek in two very different roles that underscore her versatility. Jumping into superhero territory, she was enlisted by Academy Award–winning director Chloé Zhao for a role in the ensemble film Eternals, portraying Ajak, the spiritual leader of an immortal alien race. She also worked with director Ridley Scott on House of Gucci, a crime drama about the murder of Italian businessman Maurizio Gucci.

Ernesto Lechner is a contributing writer who covers music, film and culture. A frequent contributor to the Latin Grammy Awards, his work has also appeared in the Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune, Rolling Stone and Billboard, among other major publications.

Salma Hayek's Journey to the Heights of Hollywood

The A-list actress, producer and director channeled her versatility and talent for success

AARP Membership -Join AARP for just $12 for your first year when you enroll in automatic renewal

A start on the small screen

A leap into film

Achieving mainstream success

Moving into production

An extraordinary butterfly

Her magnum opus

A barrier-breaking megahit

Evolving into new roles

Exploring animation

No slowing down

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