Six Definitive Films: The ultimate beginner’s guide to Salma Hayek
Salma Hayek is well regarded in Hollywood and is arguably one of Mexico’s most successful imports to the centre of the film industry. She was the first Mexican actress to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress and has also been adorned with several other awards, including a Golden Globe and a BAFTA.
Hayek was born in 1966 in Veracruz, Mexico, and her family is of Lebanese descent. Her mother is of Spanish descent, and as such, Hayek considers herself half Spanish, half Lebanese. When her family moved to America, they were briefly illegal immigrants but were soon granted legal status.
She had her first screen appearance in 1988 on Mexican TV but would have to wait until 1995 until she had her Hollywood breakthrough when Robert Rodriguez cast her in Desperado. Hayek has had an envious career in the film industry, so we’re going to take a look at six of the films that appear to have defined her work thus far. Here we go.
Salma Hayek’s six definitive films:
Desperado (Robert Rodriguez, 1995)
Desperado is the second part of Robert Rodriguez’s Mexico Trilogy. It features Antonio Banderas as El Mariachi, who goes on a hunt for the drug lord who killed his old lover. The film is considered Hayek’s breakout role.
The film featured a love scene that was not mentioned in the script, which caused distress to Hayek. She said, “When we were going to start shooting, I started to sob. ‘I don’t know that I can do it. I’m afraid.’ One of the things I was afraid of was Antonio – he was an absolute gentleman and so nice, and we’re still super close friends – but he was very free. It scared me that for him, it was like nothing.”
Frida (Julie Taymor, 2002)
Arguably Hayek’s most influential role came in Julie Taymer’s biopic of the surrealist Mexican artist Frida Kahlo. Alfred Molino portrayed Kahlo’s husband, Diego Rivera, and Hayek would be nominated for an Academy Award.
Hayek said of Kahlo and the film, “Something intrigued me, and the more I learned, the more I started to appreciate her work. There was a lot of passion and depth. Some people see only pain, but I also see irony and humour. I think what draws me to her is what Diego saw in her. She was a fighter.”
Once Upon a Time in Mexico (Robert Rodriguez, 2003)
Hayek would then reprise her role as Carolina in the final instalment of the Mexico Trilogy, and Antonio Banderas would once again perform as El Mariachi in the Robert Rodriguez picture. Reportedly, Once Upon a Time in Mexico was the first film to be shot in High Definition.
Johnny Depp also performed in the film and was praised for his performance. Roger Ebert gave a conflicted review of the film, saying, “Like [Sergio] Leone’s movie, the Rodriguez epic is more interested in the moment, in great shots, in surprises and ironic reversals and closeups of sweaty faces, than in a coherent story.”
Bandidas (Joachim Ronning and Espen Sandberg, 2006)
Hayek performed alongside Penelope Cruz in the film written and produced by Luc Besson. The story revolves around two contrasting women in the late 19th Century who turn their skills to becoming bank robbers whilst trying to protect their town from a malevolent enforcer.
The film marked the first time that Hayek and Cruz starred in a movie together. The Norwegian filmmaking duo Joachim Ronning and Espen Sandberg would direct the film and the principal photography took place mainly in Mexico.
Ask the Dust (Robert Towne, 2006)
Ask the Dust is a 2006 romance film based on John Fante’s 1939 novel of the same name. The film takes place during the Great Depression and focuses on the Long Beach earthquake that occurred in 1933.
Hayek plays Camilla, a feisty café waitress who longs for a better life for her and her children. Meanwhile, Arturo, a struggling writer – played by Colin Farrell – arrives in Los Angeles wanting to refresh his career. The two soon fall in love, but their relationship is marred by Camilla’s ill health.
Grown Ups (Dennis Duggan, 2010)
Whilst many of Hayek’s most notable roles are those in romance and drama films, she would also turn her talents to the genre of comedy, where she retained a high level of adeptness. She started in the Dennis Duggan film Grown Ups, alongside Kevin James, Chris Rock and David Spade.
The film focuses on five school friends who are reunited in their middle age. They reminisce on old times and let loose during the 4th of July weekend. Hayek played one of the friend’s wives and proved that she has many acting weapons in her arsenal.
