Salma Hayek reflects on the support she and Penélope Cruz offered each other as Latina actors breaking into Hollywood in the '90s, emphasizing female solidarity
Salma Hayek. Pic/AFP
Actress Salma Hayek says she and Penelope Cruz both offered huge support to one another as they tried to make it in Hollywood as actresses from Mexico and Spain, respectively. She said that female solidarity has been her strength, inspiration and her safe space.
The 58-year-old actress first found major success in her native Mexico, starring in the telenovela Teresa, which aired for two years across 125 episodes, before stepping into Los Angeles in 1991.
Hayek remembers how difficult it was to land roles as a Latino actress during the decade but she was lucky to have Cruz, who moved from Spain to America to make it in Hollywood, to lean on, and vice versa.
In an interview with Italian publication IO Donna, Salma said: "In the 1990s, there were no roles for Latinos, I had to fight for every opportunity. It's true, luckily I was able to count on a community of extraordinary women at my side. Penélope Cruz ... We were a refuge and strength for each other.
"Female solidarity has been my strength, my inspiration, my safe space. Without this network, I don't know if I would have had the same resilience. I think that friends are food for the soul, you learn from each other's courage."
Hayek's first big screen roles were opposite Antonio Banderas in Robert Rodriguez's 1995 action film 'Desperado' and playing a vampire in Rodriguez's cult horror film 'From Dusk till Dawn' , which also starred George Clooney, Quentin Tarantino, Juliette Lewis and Harvey Keitel.
It was the role of surrealist painter Frida Kahlo in Julie Taymor's biographical film 'Frida', released in 2002, that earned her critical acclaim and recognition and her performance made her the first Mexican actress to receive a Best Actress Oscar nomination.
Hayek creates her own stories for Latin audiences via her own independent production company Ventanarosa, which provided viewers with hit series 'Ugly Betty'.
The Hollywood Walk of Fame honouree says she created Ventanarosa in 1999 so she could create roles for other actresses like her.
Discussing opportunities for Latino performers, she said: "There has been progress, but there is still a lot to do. This is why I continue to produce stories for Latin audiences, Argentina, Mexico. In 26 years of production, I have never thought only of myself. I wanted to create spaces for other artists, to bring work to Latin American countries.
"Our latest project is a television adaptation of the popular 1989 novel 'Like Water for Chocolate' by Laura Esquivel: it took us six years to complete and when we consider that there are 600 million Spanish speakers in the world, it is easy to see the potential."
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