Salma Hayek: a one-of-a-kind, behind-the scenes look at the inner life of one of Hollywood's most daring and hottest—by a photographer and interviewer who's not bad on the big screen herself

Interview, April, 2003 by Penelope Cruz

PENELOPE CRUZ: Hola?

SALMA HAYEK: Huevos! [laughs]

PC: Huevos! [laughs] Que pasa? The first thing I want to say is that I am so proud of you and so happy for Frida's awards and nominations. I know everything you went through with this movie [which Hayek produced, as well as starred in]. We came into each other's lives four years ago, and since I met you, I have heard you talk about Frida. I've seen you during all the different periods of the film over the years. so in a way, I feel that I have followed the progression of the movie very closely.

SH: It's been eight years in all.

PC: Yes. How do you feel after all that?

SH: I'm just so completely overjoyed. I am exhausted from being so happy. [laughs]

PC: I'm curious: I know you really love Frida Kahlo, but how old were you when you started being aware of her, and became obsessed with her?

SH: I first became aware of her when I was 14. I didn't become obsessed immediately, but little by little. I think she haunted me. When I first saw her paintings, I didn't necessarily like them. I thought they were so strange and almost shocking, but I couldn't get them off my mind. So I went and saw them again, and I became very intrigued. I don't think that when I was young I quite understood what it was with the images, or with her, that I was fascinated with. Later I understood that I had never known or read or heard about anybody like this woman: her courage to be unique, how she did everything in her own way. She lived her life the way she wanted to live, never cared about what anybody thought--except Diego [Rivera, her husband and fellow artist]--and she never apologized for anything.

PC: Yes. You know, I never like it when I am asked, "How are you similar to your character?" I don't think we have to be similar to our characters--we just have to understand them. But one of the things I see in you, something that I think Frida also had, is that you are not afraid of being yourself.

SH: I hate it, too, when people ask me what I have in common with my characters. It's very refreshing to hear that I'm not alone. [laughs] I think it would be very selfish to create your characters out of your own personality. In order to get into a character, you have to forget about yourself.

PC: Yes! Bueno. I want to ask you about how it went when Edward [Norton] contributed to Frida's script.

SH: We found a very good technique. He would write, and then he would give his pages to Julie [Taymor, the film's director]. Privately, Julie would come to me--Edward knew about it, but we didn't do it in front of him--and we would discuss them. We'd come to some agreements, and Julie would go back to Edward with some notes. He never knew who the notes were coming from, if they were mine or Julie's. That was very good.

PC: [laughs] Much better, no?

SH: And Edward didn't talk a lot about work at home; it was not an obsessive thing, 24 hours a day. Though there is something I haven't talked about, because as I don't talk about work at home, I don't really talk about my relationship at work, but I'll tell you: One of the most difficult parts in developing this project was when Edward was working on the script at night and going to shoot another movie during the day. One time I saw him go two days without sleeping--and I mean not 10 minutes. He'd be at that computer when the car came to pick him up to take him to the set. It was his idea; it was very difficult for me to watch him work like that. Now that it's over, it's a very special memory that I treasure, because nobody's ever done anything like this for me.

PC: That's beautiful. I want to ask you something else, but not in the way that we get asked the question all the time. It's about coming from another country to work in America. But instead of asking about all the drama and difficulties, I want to know about--and celebrate--all the positive things.

SH: Thank you! This is a great idea. You know, some of this negativity might be my fault, because there was one week or two weeks back in time when people were going around saying, "Hollywood has gone Latin! There's a Hispanic boom!" And I said, "No! It's not like they're trying to make parts for us, it's just that some of us have sneaked into the system." The truth is, Hollywood is not representative.

PC: You mean of life?

SH: Well, a week and a half ago they [the U.S. Census Bureau] officially declared that Latins were the country's largest minority. And because I spoke up about the lack of Hispanic representation [in Hollywood], now everybody always wants me to go into the drama and become a victim every time they interview me. It's a cliche. It's like you complain about the cliche, and then you get asked these questions so you can be the cliche of the Latina complaining about the cliche.

PC: [laughs] Exactly.

SH: No way out. But I think it's also a blessing. When I was at the Golden Globes, I really liked Nicole Kidman's speech and everything she said about women--

PC: --About women's characters? Yes, that was beautiful.