Salma Hayek

Salma Valgarma Hayek Jiménez was born in Coatzacoalcos, Veracruz, Mexico. Her father, Sami Hayek Domínguez, is of Lebanese descent and worked as an oil company executive and owner of an industrial-equipment firm. Her mother, Diana Jiménez Medina, is of Spanish descent and is an opera singer and talent scout. Her younger brother, Sami Hayek, is a furniture designer.

Raised in a wealthy Catholic family, Hayek attended the Academy of the Sacred Heart in Grand Coteau, Louisiana, from the age of 12. She was diagnosed with dyslexia while in school. She later studied international relations at the Universidad Iberoamericana in Mexico City before leaving university to pursue acting.

Hayek made her first screen appearance in the television series Un Nuevo Amanecer in 1988. At 23, she was cast as the title character in the Mexican telenovela Teresa, which ran from 1989 to 1991 and made her a star in Mexico. The role earned her the 1990 TVyNovelas Award for Best Female Revelation.

After moving to Los Angeles in 1991, Hayek studied English and acting with Stella Adler. She initially found few opportunities and took small roles in television programs including Dream On, The Sinbad Show, and Nurses, as well as appearances in Mi Vida Loca and Roadracers.

In 1994, she played Alma in Jorge Fons's Mexican drama El callejón de los milagros, also known as Miracle Alley. Her performance earned an Ariel Award nomination for Best Actress, further establishing her as a serious film performer before her Hollywood breakthrough.

Robert Rodriguez cast Hayek opposite Antonio Banderas in Desperado (1995), a role that brought her to widespread attention in the United States. She reunited with Rodriguez for From Dusk Till Dawn (1996), in which she played a vampire queen, and later received her first star billing in the romantic comedy Fools Rush In (1997), opposite Matthew Perry.

Hayek continued appearing in films across several genres, including 54 (1998), The Faculty (1998), Dogma (1999), and Wild Wild West (1999). She also worked with Rodriguez on Once Upon a Time in Mexico (2003), the concluding film in the director's Mariachi trilogy, but their earlier collaborations in Desperado and From Dusk Till Dawn were central to her rise in Hollywood.

In 1999, Hayek founded the production company Ventanarosa. Its first feature production was El Coronel No Tiene Quien Le Escriba, which became Mexico's official selection for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.

Hayek produced and starred in Frida (2002), portraying the Mexican painter Frida Kahlo. She had been interested in Kahlo's life and work for years and helped assemble the project, including approaching Alfred Molina to play Kahlo's husband, Diego Rivera. The film received six Academy Award nominations, including a Best Actress nomination for Hayek.

Her performance made Hayek the first Mexican actress to receive an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress. She also received Golden Globe, BAFTA, and Screen Actors Guild Award nominations for the role.

Hayek expanded her work behind the camera by producing and directing the television film The Maldonado Miracle (2003). She won the Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Directing in a Children, Youth or Family Special. She later produced Kahlil Gibran's The Prophet (2014), providing the voice of Kamila, and continued developing film and television projects through Ventanarosa.

Hayek helped adapt the Colombian telenovela Yo Soy Betty La Fea for American television and served as an executive producer on ABC's Ugly Betty, which ran from 2006 to 2010. The series starred America Ferrera as Betty Suarez and won the Golden Globe Award for Best Television Series, Musical or Comedy, in 2007.

Hayek also appeared on the show as Sofia Reyes, a magazine editor. Her performance earned her a Primetime Emmy nomination for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series, while her work as an executive producer contributed to a second nomination for Outstanding Comedy Series.

She also made recurring guest appearances on NBC's 30 Rock between 2009 and 2013. Her television work combined acting with producing and helped extend her influence beyond feature films.

Hayek appeared with Adam Sandler in Grown Ups (2010) and returned for Grown Ups 2 (2013). She voiced Kitty Softpaws in the animated film Puss in Boots (2011), alongside Antonio Banderas, and later reprised the role in Puss in Boots: The Last Wish (2022). She also appeared in Savages (2012), Here Comes the Boom (2012), and The Prophet.

Her work during this period included both commercial comedies and more dramatic projects. She starred with Penélope Cruz in the Western comedy Bandidas (2006), appeared in Tale of Tales (2015), and received an Independent Spirit Award nomination for her performance in Beatriz at Dinner (2017).

In 2017, Hayek played the wife of Samuel L. Jackson's hitman in The Hitman's Bodyguard, opposite Ryan Reynolds and Jackson. She returned to the role in the 2021 sequel, Hitman's Wife's Bodyguard.

Hayek continued working in drama, comedy, and action films, appearing in The Hummingbird Project (2018), Drunk Parents (2019), Like a Boss (2020), The Roads Not Taken (2020), and Bliss (2021). She also played Giuseppina "Pina" Auriemma in Ridley Scott's House of Gucci (2021), alongside Lady Gaga, Adam Driver, and Jared Leto.

In Eternals (2021), Hayek portrayed Ajak, the spiritual leader of the immortal group in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The role made her the first Arab actress with a main role in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. She later appeared as herself in the 2023 episode "Joan Is Awful" of Black Mirror and starred in Magic Mike's Last Dance (2023).

Hayek has received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and was appointed a Knight of France's National Order of the Legion of Honour. She has also served as a member of the Cannes Film Festival jury and was included in Time's list of the 100 most influential people in the world.

Hayek has advocated for awareness of violence against women, discrimination against immigrants, and infant nutrition. She testified before the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee in support of reauthorizing the Violence Against Women Act and served on the board of V-Day, a charity founded by playwright Eve Ensler.

She has supported shelters and organizations assisting victims of domestic violence in Mexico. In 2013, she joined Beyoncé and Frida Giannini in launching Chime for Change, a Gucci campaign focused on women's empowerment.

Hayek has also worked with UNICEF and Procter & Gamble on a program supporting vaccines against maternal and neonatal tetanus. In 2011, she launched Nuance by Salma Hayek, a cosmetics, skincare, and haircare line sold through CVS stores in North America.