The “confusing” performance Salma Hayek never understood: “What’s happening here?”
Salma Hayek Pinault, who, admittedly, is better known by her first two names, is one of the most successful Latin stars of all time.
From plying her trade in telenovellas to her early Hollywood successes to being one of the most bankable actors of her generation, her accomplishments are seriously impressive. She’s been a part of some massive franchises, from Shrek to Ugly Betty and also appeared in a Marvel movie, but the less said about Eternals, the better.
In 2023, she joined another modern institution, Black Mirror, appearing in the premiere episode of the show’s sixth season, ‘Joan is Awful’. The episode centres on the titular character, played by Annie Murphy, who has her life turned into a TV show by a streaming giant, and Hayek plays a version of herself who stars as Joan in the fictional show.
Like many episodes of Charlie Brooker’s dystopian thrill ride, ‘Joan is Awful’ received rave reviews, with the creator nominated for an Emmy for his writing work on the episode, while Murphy netted an acting prize at the Critics’ Choice Super Awards.
Thus, looking at the accolades, one assumes Hayek must have really enjoyed her time working on the show, but that’s not how it panned out, as she explained to The Standard, because the Mexican star spent most of the filming process confused.
“I was lost from the beginning, and I stayed lost till the end,” she admitted, “I kept asking Annie, ‘What is this?’ She’s kind of a nerd… She’s certain that Charlie is psychic, and she convinced me. But she would explain it to me [the plot], and I kind of said, ‘OK, got it. I got it’, and like an hour later, I would go, ‘but wait a minute, what did you say, what’s happening here?’ And, yeah, it was confusing for me.”
As you might expect from Black Mirror, ‘Joan is Awful’ gets a little complicated when the titular character discovers that she is being monitored by her devices. This information is then used to create scripts for the show in real time, so her life is playing out on TV moments after it actually happened, and that’s not even the half of it. I won’t spoil it for those of you who haven’t seen it, but it goes to some pretty wacky territory.
Hayek is far from the only star to have been affected by appearing on the show: Paul Giamatti admitted that his season seven episode made him confront his past as a squatter after his character found themselves in a similar situation. Then there’s Josh Hartnett, who was so intrigued by the series’ take on technology that he agreed to appear in an episode. In a media landscape full of soft takes and safe bets, Black Mirror continues to push the boat out, which will always attract the cream of the crop.
Its star might not have had a Scooby-Doo what was going on, but the reception to ‘Joan is Awful’ more than speaks for itself. Maybe she’ll understand it one day, but it’s more likely she’ll probably just forget all about it and move on.
