When Magic Mike's Last Dance hits the big screen weekend, audiences will see Salma Hayek Pinault as wealthy socialite Maxandra Mendoza. Steven Soderbergh's final installment of the Magic Mike trilogy stars Channing Tatum as the titular character, who follows Maxandra to London for a professional opportunity. Today, starring in the comedy-drama does not seem out of place for Hayek PInault: her long list of film and television credits range through numerous film genres. However, in a recent conversation with GQ, Hayek Pinault recalled a time when she didn't feel so welcome in the world of comedy.
"I was typecast for a long time. My entire life I wanted to do comedy and people wouldn’t give me comedies. I couldn’t land a role until I met Adam Sandler, who put me in a comedy [2010’s Grown Ups], but I was in my forties! They said, ‘You’re sexy, so you’re not allowed to have a sense of humor. Not only are you not allowed to be smart, but you were not allowed to be funny in the ’90s." She adds: "I was sad at the time, but now here I am doing every genre, in a time in my life where they told me I would have expired – that the last 20 years I would have been out of business. So I’m not sad, I’m not angry; I’m laughing."
Salma Hayek Succeeds in Comedy and Beyond
The Mexican-Lebanese actress began her career by appearing in Mexican television and film before achieving international stardom. Through the mid 1990s and early 2000s, she was cast in a slew of action films including Robert Rodriguez's Desperado, From Dusk till Dawn, and Once Upon a Time in Mexico. In 2002, she portrayed iconic artist Frida Kahlo in Frida. For the biographical film, Hayek also worked off-screen as a producer. The role earned her a history making Academy Award nomination, with Hayek Pinault becoming the first Mexican woman to earn a nod in the Best Actress category.
"When I was nominated for an Oscar, the types of roles that people offered me did not change at all.I really struggled and I thought that was going to change, but no," she told the publication.
Her Grown Ups casting did mark a shift for Hayek's profession, and she went on to appear in comedies including Grown Ups 2, Here Comes the Boom, Muppets Most Wanted, and The Hitman's Bodyguard, and voiced characters in Puss in Boots and Sausage Party. She also received two Emmy Award nominations for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series and Outstanding Comedy Series (as a producer), for her work on the ABC comedy Ugly Betty.
Following Magic Mike's Last Dance, Hayek Pinault will star in Without Blood. The wartime drama is directed by Angelina Jolie and is based on Alessandro Baricco's best-selling novel of the same name.