Salma Hayek reveals she missed out on 'two big comedies' due to her Mexican heritage

Salma Hayek recently opened up about her upcoming movies, past experiences and her battle with COVID-19 in a recent interview with Variety. She spoke about her preparation for her role as Ajak in Marvel's upcoming movie Eternals. The 54-year old also opened up about her lost opportunities and starring in an action movie. 

Salma Hayek on her role as a woman on menopause in The Hitman's Wife's Bodyguard

Speaking about her role in the upcoming The Hitman's Wife's Bodyguard, the sequel to the 2017 action movie The Hitman's Bodyguard, Salma told Variety that she was initially shocked when the film's director involved her in the movie-making process. She will reprise her role as Sonia Kincaid, the feisty wife of Darius Kincaid (played by Samuel L Jackson). She will be seen talking about menopause 'in a funny way' in the film. 

Speaking further about her role which also speaks about a woman undergoing menopause, she said that she didn't think she would do such a role but she was certain that she would appear in an action or comedy film. She also revealed that she lost out on 'two big comedies' because of her Mexican heritage. Salma said the makers of those films later came to her to express their regret at the casting of the film, but at that time they knew that studios won't cast her in the lead because of Salma Hayek's Mexican heritage. 

She also further added that those rejections made her think that maybe this will give way to the future generation of Latino actors. She also spoke about how nobody looked in her value as an actor, despite bringing the Latino market to the theatres. She went to say that people still give credits to the male lead in a successful film, regardless of how good the woman played her role. Salma said, "They don’t count who you’re bringing into the theatres". 

She concluded that segment by saying that she believed she would be an action star one day. But one day, she felt that it was not going to happen because it didn't make sense. Now that all of it is 'not making sense', it is actually happening with her. 

(Image: Salma Hayek's Instagram)