For a woman who has only been treading on the big-screen soil of America since 1991, Mexican actress Salma Hayek has already proven she's using the right film-fertilizer. Since her arrival in the U.S., this strikingly natural beauty has landed roles opposite some of our country's hottest men. That is, of course, if you consider Antonio Banderas, Matthew Perry and George Clooney anything to write home about.
Hayek began her career in front of a TV-camera as the Melrose Place-type lead on Mexico's hottest prime-time soap opera, Teresa. But, capturing the adoration of 61% of the viewing market wasn�t enough for this feisty, 5'2" actress. Instead, she left the comfort and cashflow of Mexico stardom to start fresh in America.
"I always knew that I would make it, but when you say 'make it' in English, it means becoming a star," Hayek told US magazine. "And what I wanted to do was films." Well, she got both. She made films and those films made her a star--on both shores.
"There is a pride many people in Mexico seem to feel [about my achievements] which puts an immense amount of pressure on my back," Hayek confided to Movieline's Stephen Rebello. "It sounds selfish, but I came [to America] because it was a personal dream. In a way, for Mexicans, it has become a collective dream."
In her latest film, Fools Rush In, in which she plays a determined Mexican-American photographer who finds herself in a "family way" after a fling with Friends funny-man Matthew Perry, Hayek is able to give voice to her traditional heritage as well as herself.
According to the film's director, Andy Tennant, in the beginning "she had a lot of problems with the script which were really smart."
"I told [the filmmakers] it was vulgar, ridiculous and insulting to Mexicans," Hayek explained to Movieline. But after she got her hands and head into it, most of her script-change suggestions were taken into account and the finished product is all the better for it.
Hayek was particularly pleased with the opportunity this role provided for a big-studio chance to alter the sex-symbol image previous roles in Desperado and Dusk Till Dawn had given her.
"It's the first time in America I've gotten a chance to really work with a character," Hayek explained. And it looks like this won't be her last chance, either.
Mexican director Roberto Sneider chose Hayek for the role of Mexican-born artist Frida Kahlo in his up-coming film Frida, which previously attracted the likes of Laura San Giacomo and Madonna. And she recently turned down a role in a Mexican film which offered her more than she currently makes in Hollywood, in order to star in an independent art-film with Russell Crowe entitled, Breaking Up.
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