Salma Hayek Biography Filmography Awards

Salma Hayek is a world-famous actress born on September 2, 1966, in Coatzacoalcos, Veracruz, Mexico to a Lebanese father and a Mexican mother. Raised in a devoutly Catholic family, she was sent to a Louisiana boarding school at the age of 12. After leaving the school due to alleged behavioral problems with the religious Sisters who ran the school, Hayek returned to Mexico, but she was eventually sent to Houston, Texas, to live with her aunt, where she stayed until she was 17.

She subsequently moved to Mexico City, where she studied International Relations as a university student. To the chagrin of her family, she decided to drop out in order to pursue a career as an actress. At the age of 23 Salma Hayek landed the title role in Teresa (1989), a successful telenovela which earned her star status in her native Mexico. Later, in 1994, Salma starred in El Callejón de los Milagros, which would later become the most awarded movie in the Cinema of Mexico.

Salma moved to Los Angeles, California, in 1991 despite not being fluent in English, just to study acting with the hopes of starting a career in Hollywood. Robert Rodriguez and his producer wife Elizabeth Avellan soon gave Hayek the big break she needed, starring opposite Antonio Banderas in 1995's Desperado. This movie brought Hayek to Hollywood's attention, as moviegoers proved to be as dazzled with Hayek as Rodriguez had been.

Following her success in Desperado with a brief but memorable role in From Dusk Till Dawn. In 1996 she co-starred in Will Smith's blockbuster Wild Wild West as well as a role in Kevin Smith's Dogma.Frida, co-produced by Hayek, was released in 2002. Starring Hayek as Frida Kahlo, and Alfred Molina as her unfaithful husband Diego Rivera. The film also featured an entourage of stars in supporting roles, including Antonio Banderas, Ashley Judd, Geoffrey Rush, Edward Norton and Valeria Golino. Her performance won her a nomination for the 2002 Academy Awards, although some have suggested that the nomination was more a credit to her perseverance in seeing the film made.

Salma dated fellow actor Edward Norton for 4 years between 1999 and 2003 and Josh Lucas from 2003 until 2004. She has dyslexia and is fluent in English, Arabic, Spanish, and Portuguese. She is considered by many to be the most successful Latin American actress in Hollywood since Dolores del Río, Hayek, having appeared in more than thirty films and secured a nomination for an Oscar, is arguably the most important Mexican star in Hollywood today.

Filmography

Mi Vida Loca (1993)
The Sinbad Show (series) (1993)
Roadracers (TV) (1994)
El Callejón de los Milagros (Midaq Alley, 1995)
Desperado (1995)
Fair Game (1995)
From Dusk Till Dawn (1996)
Follow Me Home (1996)
Fled (1996)
Fools Rush In (1997)
The Hunchback (TV) (1997)
Sistole Diastole (1997)
54 (1998)
The Velocity Of Gary (1998)
The Faculty (1998)
Dogma (1999)
El Coronel No Tiene Quien le Escriba (No One Writes to the Colonel, 1999)
Wild Wild West (1999)
Timecode (2000)
Chain Of Fools (2000)
La Gran Vida (2000)
Traffic (2000)
Hotel (2001)
In the Time of the Butterflies (2001)
Frida (2002)
Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over (2003)
Once Upon A Time In Mexico (2003)
The Maldonado Miracle (2003) (Director)
After the Sunset (2004)
Sian Ka'an (voice) (2005)
Ask the Dust (2005)
Paint (2005)
Bandidas (2006)
Lonely Hearts (2006)

Awards

Academy
Year Category Movie Win/Nominated
2002 Best Actress, Frida (2002) Nominated

Broadcast Film Critics Association
Year Category Movie Win/Nominated
2003 Best Actress, Frida (2002) Nominated
2001 Best Actress in a Picture Made for Television, In the Time of the Butterflies (2001) Nominated

Golden Globe
Year Category Movie Win/Nominated
2002 Best Actress - Drama, Frida (2002) Nominated

Screen Actors Guild
Year Category Movie Win/Nominated
2002 Best Actress, Frida (2002) Nominated