Salma Hayek Never Needed Harvey Weinstein: A Look Back at 15 of Her Most Iconic Roles
On Tuesday, the producer and Academy Award-nominated actress Salma Hayek wrote a harrowing op-ed for the New York Times describing her painful experience with the producer Harvey Weinstein, who bullied and sexually harassed her as he had so many other vulnerable women over the years. Hayek describes Weinstein’s vile overtures, his violence and threats, his strong-arming and disturbing manipulation tactics, and, most affectingly for a then up-and-coming actress of color, his crushing influence and ability to make or break careers. In exchange for producing her Oscar-winning Frida, Hayek had to sign a contract to do several films with Weinstein’s company, Miramax, but once she refused to accept his advances, Weinstein just cast her in supporting roles in small films. “He never offered me a starring role in a movie again,” Hayek writes. Here’s the thing: Even in those smaller roles, Hayek thrived. In fact, from the start of her career, in Robert Rodriguez’s Desperado and From Dusk Till Dawn, the maligned 54 or Barry Sonnenfeld’s silly Wild Wild West, Hayek has always risen above her material, improved it, added her own flavor. And if her career after her Oscar nomination is any proof, Weinstein will just be a footnote when we look back at her body of work: Producing the Emmy-winning series Ugly Betty, roles in blockbuster franchises (Grown-Ups, Puss in Boots), passion projects like Matteo Garrone’s Tale of Tales, and, just this year, a remarkable performance in Beatriz at Dinner that earned her raves and a Best Actress nomination at the Independent Spirit Awards. Here, a look back at a celebrated career with many more chapters left.
Connie Britton and Salma Hayek in “Beatriz at Dinner”, 2017. Image courtesy of IMDB.
Salma Hayek and Eric Mabius in “Ugly Betty”, 2006. Image courtesy of IMDB.
Ashley Judd and Salma Hayek in “Frida”, 2002. Image courtesy of (c) Miramax / Everett Collection.
Salma Hayek as Frida Kahlo in “Frida”, 2002. Image courtesy of ©Miramax Films / Everett Collection.
Salma Hayek in “Desperado”, 1995. Image courtesy of Everett Collection.
Chris Rock and Salma Hayek in “Dogma”, 1999. Image courtesy of ©Lions Gate Films / Everett Collection.
Salma Hayek in “Savages”, 2012. Image courtesy of Universal Pictures / IMDB.
Salma Hayek in “El Callejón de los Milagros”, 1995. Image courtesy of IMDB.
Salma Hayek in “54”, 1998. Image courtesy of © Miramax Films/ Everett Collection.
Salma Hayek in ” In the Time of the Butterflies”, 2001. Image courtesy of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. / IMDB.
Salma Hayek and Mathieu Demy in “Americano”, 2011. Image courtesy of ©MPI Media Group / Everett Collection.
Vincent D’Onofrio, Salma Hayek, and Thomas Jane in “The Velocity of Gary”, 1998. Image courtesy of (c)Columbia Tristar / Everett Collection.
Will Smith and Salma Hayek in “Wild Wild West”, 1999. Image courtesy of Everett Collection.
Salma Hayek in “Chain of Fools”, 2000. Image courtesy of Everett Collection.
Jon Tenney, Matthew Perry and Salma Hayek in “Fools Rush In”, 1997. Image courtesy of Everett Collection.
Salma Hayek in “Bandidas”, 2006, Image courtesy of (c) 20th Century Fox Film Corp. / Everett Collection.
