Salma Hayek is a renowned Hollywood personality who is a Mexican-born actress. Because of her roots, she had to face racism initially. A few years back, she opened up about it and revealed how executives discouraged her and told her over and over that she would never play anything other than stereotypical portrayals of Mexican women. Today, she is one of the most influential Latina actresses in the industry.
Salma started her journey with Mexican telenovelas and then gradually transitioned to Hollywood. The actress gained recognition in Hollywood with movies like Desperado, From Dusk Till Dawn, Dogma, and Wild Wild West. In 2002, she portrayed the role of painter Frida Kahlo in the biopic Frida. For her performance in Frida, she was nominated for the Oscar in the Best Actress category. But things were not easy for her. Keep scrolling for the deets.
A few years back, Salma Hayek appeared in an interview with Drew Barrymore, and the actress opened up about the time she faced racism in the industry. Salma recalled, “I had been told over and over and over, ‘You’ll never make it in this town; you will only play a prostitute, drug dealer’s wife or girlfriend, and housekeeper because there’s no other roles for you.'” She added, “And then here comes Robert Rodriguez, who gave us the opportunity for Latinos to have other kinds of roles, and that started my career.”
Speaking about the 1990s, when she started her career, Salma Hayek recalled that studios were reluctant to develop films featuring minority casts. She also revealed that studios were not willing to create movies catering to Latinos despite their significant percentage in the US.
Salma Hayek added, “One time I remember there was one studio executive, and he said to me in these words, ‘You know what? You were born on the wrong side of the border. Had you been born on the right side of the border, probably you would be the biggest star in the world. But no matter how beautiful anybody thinks you are, no matter how good of an actress you are, the minute you open your mouth the audience are just going to be reminded of their maids.’ And that’s what he said to me. But they smartened up.”
