Salma Hayek: Its racism to be shocked that this Mexican ended in the life that she has
Salma Hayek covers the April issue of Town & Country Magazine. I honestly saw some of the pull quotes without context and I was all “give me a f–king break, Salma,” but in context, she’s actually not bad at all. Salma can sometimes come across as very full of herself, but guess what? She’s a beautiful woman married to a billionaire. “Being full of herself” is pretty standard, I would think. Salma covers this magazine to promote her latest film, The Hummingbird Project, but she mostly chats about her life these days. Some highlights:
On her character in The Hummingbird Project: “They’re rare. And if you’re Mexican they’re practically nonexistent.”
On the joys and struggles of Instagram: “Funnily enough, I have 8.6 million followers…doing it on my own! I remember my first Boomerang. I did it, but it was without my head, and I got so frustrated I just posted it. I said, ‘Sorry, guys. I tried but I really can’t get it.’”
On her husband François-Henri Pinault and what she keeps private: “[Pinault] is the best husband in the world. I get to be who I am with him, and I don’t feel that somebody tries to limit me. I’m not going to tell you [how we met]. It’s such a romantic, amazing story, but it is mine. I don’t want to vulgarize it by making it into a story to make myself interesting.”
On those who were surprised when she married Pinault: “A lot of people are very shocked that I married who I married. And some people are even intimidated now by me. But it’s another way of showing racism. They can’t believe this Mexican ended up in the life that she has, and they’re uncomfortable around me.”
On Harvey Weinstein’s discrediting her story following her 2017 New York Times article: “There is a theory that women of color are easy to discredit.”
On becoming a mother at age 41: “I think I’m a better mother because I had her [Valentina] later. But I do get tired, I’m not going to lie.”
On plastic surgery: “I haven’t done an-y-thing. I don’t know how to explain it.” Does she, I ask desperately, drink a lot of water? Hayek shrugs. “Sometimes I drink a lot, some days I don’t.”
“A lot of people are very shocked that I married who I married. And some people are even intimidated now by me. But it’s another way of showing racism. They can’t believe this Mexican ended up in the life that she has, and they’re uncomfortable around me.” True or no? I wasn’t surprised that Salma Hayek ended up married to a billionaire, I was surprised that she ended up with that particular billionaire. And yes, I think part of it was that I didn’t see her, at that time, being the kind of woman who would pick up and move to Paris to marry a Frenchman. Is that racist? Or was it because I was used to seeing her with Ed Norton, and I always kind of thought she’d end up with another actor, someone from the Hollywood community? It’s an interesting conversation to have, and I bet there were a lot of people who were like “WTF, a Mexican actress marrying a French billionaire?” and there was a lot of racism to it.
And yes, it was gross that Harvey Weinstein went out of his way to attempt to discredit Salma and Lupita Nyong’o in particular. It was racial/racist.
Photos courtesy of Victor Demarchelier for Town & Country, sent from a promotional T&C email.
ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7pLHLnpmirJOdxm%2BvzqZmb2lia353e9Kao6aZj52uurHKmKCtq4%2BnrqS10qaWraePl7Kgv8eomqSdlJTBqa3TmKuhoaOUuqbEyJyYp5eVo7GmsL6ipZismJqsrbXFnpatoJGprLS0xJifmqtf