Salma Hayak
Photo: Iceposter.com
Salma Hayek was born in Coatzacoalcos, Veracruz, Mexico, the daughter of Diana Jiménez, an opera singer and talent scout, and Sami Hayek, an oil company executive. Hayek’s father is of Lebanese descent while her mother is of Spanish descent. Raised in a wealthy, devoutly Catholic family, she was sent to the Academy of the Sacred Heart, Grand Coteau, Louisiana, at the age of twelve.
She was also an accomplished gymnast aspiring to compete in the Olympics but her father prevented her from being recruited by the Mexican national team. The religious sisters running the Academy ejected Hayek citing behavioral problems, so she returned to Mexico. She was later sent to live with her aunt in Houston, Texas, where she stayed until she was seventeen.
She attended college in Mexico City, where she studied International Relations at the Universidad Iberoamericana. Hayek had a starring role in what was to be her biggest film to date, Barry Sonnenfeld’s Wild Wild West, which also starred Will Smith and Kevin Kline. Unfortunately for all involved, the film was a turkey. In 2000, Hayek could be seen in smaller, edgier ventures, including the independent comedy Chain of Fools, in which she played a centerfold-turned-cop, and Mike Figgis’ experimental Time Code, which cast her as Jeanne Tripplehorn’s lover.
