The Universe, 24th June 2016

u • PROFILE 08 FRIDAY 24.06.16
‘My life’s turned out
better than I thought’
Salma Hayek makes no secret of the
fact she felt great empathy for her latest
incarnation, a woman pining to
become pregnant in new fantasy-horror
Tale Of Tales.
“My character is obsessed with
being a mother. She’s having trouble
having children and she’s deeply sad
and lonely because of this, and I
could empathise with her because I
didn’t have my child until I was 41,”
says the Mexican-born actress, who is
mum to eight-year-old Valentina (her
husband of seven years, billionaire
businessman Francois-Henri Pinault,
also has three other children).
“I understand the fear she was
going through: is this going to be a
possibility for me in my life or not?”
The movie’s directed by the acclaimed
Italian film-maker Matteo Garrone,
whose previous credits include
The Embalmer, First Love and TV
series Gomorrah, but Tale Of Tales
marks his first English language film.
“Anything he proposed I would’ve
done and I will do in the future. I feel
so lucky I got to work with him,” says
Hayek, in that melodic, husky voice.
“I have a lot of Italian friends who
are actors and it was always the ongoing
joke that he usually gives the
leading roles to real people, he
doesn’t work with actors. It was
everybody’s dream to work with Matteo,
so they were very jealous!” adds
the star, looking conservatively glamorous
in a black cardigan over a dress
strewn with small swans.
u
profile
By Susan Griffin
Her character, Queen of Longtrellis,
is so determined to have a child
that she follows the advice of a sorcerer
and devours the heart of a
sea monster.
“When I read that scene, I thought
this is not even going to make it to the
film,” recalls Hayek, laughing. “I don’t
‘‘
I have a lot of Italian friends
who are actors and it was
always the on-going joke
that he [Matteo Garrone]
usually gives the leading
roles to real people,
he doesn’t work with
actors. It was everybody’s
dream to work with Matteo,
so they were very jealous!
know how Matteo managed to do
something that is so grotesque yet elegant
at the same time, and emotional.
“Every take we would do, he would
say, ‘OK, now I want you to do this
with desperation, now with love. Do
it with hope, with sadness’. I didn’t
know there were so many ways to eat
a heart.”
The film is inspired by the fairy
tales of Giambattista Basile, an Italian
academic, courtier and soldier
whose work comprised more than 50
stories, weaving the sublime with
the shocking, and influenced the
Brothers Grimm.
“The book it was based on was
written in the 17th century, [but] all
the conflicts of the characters are
very relevant today and Matteo just
takes it to the grotesque and the
unimaginable, both psychologically
and visually,” continues Hayek.
Garrone, who also co-wrote the
screenplay, has noted that choosing
which tales to include, followed an
“invisible thread”.
“It involves three stories about
women, each at a different stage in
life,” notes the 47-year-old director.
“But what struck us even more was
the capacity of these tales to capture
some contemporary obsessions: the
powerful desire for youth and beauty,
the obsession of a mother who would
do anything to have a son, and the violence
that a girl must deal with to
become an adult.”
Hayek agrees: “It’s incredible that
this author was writing about the obsession
with keeping beauty and plastic
surgery back then. All the conflicts
for women are very relevant today. So
even though it’s a period piece, it
feels very modern.”
Given the actress’ flawless complexion,
it would appear she’s found
the secret to eternal youth. She looks
35 but turns 50 in September.
“I’m actually very excited about it,”
she exclaims. “Turning 30 was kind
of shocking. I really liked turning 40
and now I’m super-excited about
turning 50.
“When I was younger, I thought it
was scary – you think you’re done
with your life by 50, but I’m very fulfilled
with what I’ve done in 50 years.”
Raised in an affluent family in the
oil rich coastal city of Coatzacoalcos,
Hayek was sent to school in the US,
before returning to Mexico to study
at university.
In her early 20s, she was cast in the
title role in the popular telenovela
Teresa, eventually moving to Los Angeles
to pursue her career in 1991.
Following bit parts, she landed her
big break in Robert Rodriguez’s Desperado,
opposite Antonio Banderas,
in 1995.
Rodriguez also cast Hayek in From
Dusk Till Dawn, alongside George
Clooney and Quentin Tarantino the following
year – and she hasn’t stopped
since, with over 60 acting credits to
her name.
“I’m very happy. I feel so energetic
and I’m very excited to discover that
I still have so much curiosity and so
many things to look forward to in
my life.
“My life turned out to be better
than I thought it was going to be
when I was 20, so I think it’s a really
exciting time,” states the star, who
executive-produced the hit US TV series
Ugly Betty and spent almost a
decade bringing her passion project
Frida to the big screen.
The biopic earned multiple award
nods, including a Best Actress Oscar
nomination for Hayek, who’s currently
filming The Hitman’s Bodyguard
and comedy Drunk Parents is
in the offing.
She’s also looking to produce
more – “we have something in development
with Amazon, [but] let’s see
if it makes it to the screen, because
sometimes you develop and it doesn’t
make it through” – but despite her
success, it’s surprising to hear she
doesn’t relish the process.
“I really don’t like producing,” Hayek
reveals with a shrug. “But I think it’s
important to do it, so I continue on
that path.”
Tale Of Tales is in cinemas now