“I NEED TO TAKE WATER,” exclaims Salma Hayek, a little dramatically, when we meet in a five-star Berlin hotel. Dressed in figure-hugging black jeans and a white poloneck, she’s sporting gold-rimmed glasses and an excitable aura. After relieving her thirst, she digs into her handbag, touches up her lipstick and applies sanitiser to her hands. It’s just before the coronavirus lockdown when we meet but the Mexican star is evidently taking no chances.
So often a chatterbox when we’ve met in the past, Hayek is in a reflective mood today.
“The things that have happened in my life are unimaginable,” she says, musing on a glittering 30-year career that began in Mexican soap Teresa when she was 23. “I think at some point in your life you settle for doing the right thing the best you can, instead of thinking about what you want and what you didn’t get or what you’re not getting.”
Not that Hayek, 53, has much to lament. Married to French billionaire and Kering CEO, François-Henri Pinault, since 2009, her work has expanded far beyond acting on the silver screen. As a producer, she was behind the hit show Ugly Betty, winning a Golden Globe, and the movie Frida, which also saw her nominated for an Oscar for playing iconic artist, Frida Kahlo. As an entrepreneur, she’s launched a range of skincare and cosmetics called Nuance.
Now she’s back with The Roads Not Taken, the new film from acclaimed British director Sally Potter (Orlando, The Party), which might just explain why we’re talking about the way life can lead you towards so many disparate paths.
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