Salma Hayek

Mexican-American actress and producer, first Mexican actress nominated for Best Actress Oscar.

She became the first Mexican actress nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress for portraying Frida Kahlo in the biopic Frida (2002).^[1] Born on September 2, 1966, Salma Valgarma Hayek Pinault is a film producer and actress who holds both Mexican and American citizenship.^[2] In 2023, Hayek was included in Time magazine's annual list of the 100 most influential individuals globally.^[3]

Last updated 2026-09-30 from the source article.

Quick Facts

Birth name

Salma Valgarma Hayek Jiménez

Born

2 September 1966

Birthplace

Coatzacoalcos, Veracruz, Mexico

Citizenship

Mexico
United States
France

Occupation

Actress, film producer

Years active

1988–present

Spouse

François-Henri Pinault (2009)

Children

Facts from the source article.

Life and work

Hayek was born in Coatzacoalcos, Veracruz, Mexico, to a father of Lebanese descent and a mother of Spanish descent.^[4][5] She studied international relations at the Universidad Iberoamericana and was diagnosed with dyslexia as a child.^[6] She moved to Los Angeles in 1991 after starring in the successful Mexican telenovela Teresa.^[7][8] Her breakout Hollywood role was opposite Antonio Banderas in Robert Rodriguez's Desperado (1995).^[9]

Hayek produced and starred in Frida (2002), which earned her an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress.^[1][10] She won the Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Directing in a Children Special for The Maldonado Miracle (2004).^[11][12] She served as an executive producer and guest-starred on the television series Ugly Betty (2006–2010).^[13] The year 1999 saw the establishment of her production company, Ventanarosa.^[14]

Within the Marvel Cinematic Universe, she took on the part of Ajak in the 2021 film Eternals.^[15]

What the cited sources add

The same source noted that Hayek's Frida is a complex character who challenges gender norms and embraces her sensuality.^[16] A 2021 Screen Rant article stated that Hayek has only appeared in four horror movies over her career.^[17] The Screen Rant article also noted that From Dusk Till Dawn gave Hayek one of her most iconic roles.^[17] A Metacritic entry listed the release date of Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant as October 23, 2009.^[18]

References

Wikipedia, "Salma Hayek" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Shattuck, "Yalitza Aparicio Is the Oscars' First Indigenous Mexican Actress Nominee", The New York Times, January 22, 2019 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
Wikipedia, "Salma Hayek" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Salma Hayek Teaches You Mexican Slang – Vanity Fair"; Speakman, "Salma Hayek Pinault on Why She's Using Her Full Married Name Now: 'Everybody Refused to Say It'", Yahoo! Finance, January 31, 2023; "Monitor", Entertainment Weekly, September 6, 2013, p. 25; "Today in history: September 2", NBC News, February 9, 2006 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
Wikipedia, "Salma Hayek" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Time 100", April 13, 2023 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
Wikipedia, "Salma Hayek" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Sami Hayek From Hollywood to Mexico, Salma's Little Brother Wins Fans with His Hip Designs"; "Salma Hayek"; Westall, "Salma Hayek pays tribute to Lebanese roots with film of 'The Prophet'", Reuters, April 27, 2015; "Salma Hayek", October 8, 2009; "SAMI HAYEK DOMÍNGUEZ", Revista El Heraldo de Veracruz; Husam sam Asi, "Salma Hayek criticises Lebanon's treatment of women – Interview", September 3, 2015; "Sami Hayek From Hollywood to Mexico, Salma's Little Brother Wins Fans with His Hip Designs"; Love, Bret (March 2003). "The Beautiful Mind of en.wikipedia.org
Wikipedia, "Salma Hayek" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Salma Hayek"; "La reina Letizia le hizo reconocimiento a Salma Hayek en España – Un Nuevo Día – Telemundo", April 23, 2015; "Salma Hayek Biography", Biography.com; "Salma Hayek Biography", imdb; "Sami Hayek From Hollywood to Mexico, Salma's Little Brother Wins Fans with His Hip Designs" (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
Wikipedia, "Salma Hayek" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Salma Hayek", Hello!; "Salma Hayek"; Shaw, "Salma Hayek: Mom on a Mission", WebMD Magazine, March–April 2009, p. 4; "Salma Hayek"; "Salma Hayek: 'I was an illegal immigrant'", ABC7 Los Angeles (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
Wikipedia, "Salma Hayek" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Salma Hayek- Biography", Yahoo! Movies; "Salma Hayek: De Teresa a la fortuna", MURAL - Periodismo independiente, May 22, 2020 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
Wikipedia, "Salma Hayek" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Salma Hayek", August 29, 2020; Winfrey, Oprah, "Oprah's Cut with Salma Hayek", September 2003; "Salma Hayek – Biography", October 8, 2009; "Stella Adler Alumni", Stella Adler Academy of Acting and Theatre; Winfrey, Oprah, "Oprah's Cut with Salma Hayek", September 2003; Winfrey, Oprah, "Oprah's Cut with Salma Hayek", September 2003; "Roadracers", regrettablesincerity.com, November 23, 2011 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
Wikipedia, "Salma Hayek" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Salma Hayek", August 29, 2020; "Salma Hayek on putting a menopausal woman in the centre of an action film", The Independent, June 15, 2021; "Salma Hayek"; "Salma Hayek", August 29, 2020; Winfrey, Oprah, "Oprah's Cut with Salma Hayek", September 2003 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
Wikipedia, "Salma Hayek" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: The Book LA SUMMER 2000 Selma & Frida; the writing studio: adaptation frida (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
Wikipedia, "Salma Hayek" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Independent Spirit Awards 2018 Nominations – See the Full List!", Entertainment Tonight (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
Wikipedia, "Salma Hayek" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "The 31st Annual Creative Craft Daytime Emmy Awards", National Academy of Television, May 14, 2004; Freydkin, "Once upon a time, there were three unknowns", USA Today, September 8, 2003 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
Wikipedia, "Salma Hayek" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Outstanding Guest Actress In A Comedy Series", Primetime Emmy Awards nominations for 2007; "News: Salma Hayek", Truly Hollywood, April 9, 2007; "Hayek sits pretty with ABC deal", The Hollywood Reporter, May 15, 2007 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
Wikipedia, "Salma Hayek" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "El coronel no tiene quien le escriba, de Arturo Ripstein representará a México en los Premios Oscar", El Mundo, November 6, 1999; "Fools Rush In vs. Traffic — What's Salma's Best?", popsugar (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
Wikipedia, "Salma Hayek" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Zack Sharf, "Salma Hayek Assumed Marvel Would Offer 'Eternals' Grandma Role", IndieWire, August 18, 2021; Zack Sharf, "Salma Hayek Assumed Marvel Would Offer 'Eternals' Grandma Role", IndieWire, August 18, 2021 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
The Book LA SUMMER 2000 Selma & Frida. facts only, no text reused. thebookla.com
Gunning, "Every Salma Hayek Horror Movie Ranked", Screen Rant, November 28, 2021. facts only, no text reused. screenrant.com
"Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant Details and Credits", Metacritic. facts only, no text reused. metacritic.com

Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Salma Hayek (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.