Salma Hayek's Early Life
Salma Hayek was born Salma Valgarma Hayek Jiménez on September 2, 1966 in Veracruz, Mexico, to parents Sami Hayek Domínguez, an oil company executive of Lebanese descent, and mom Diana Jiménez Medina, an opera singer and talent scout of Spanish descent.
She has one sibling, her younger brother Sami Hayek, who is an architect with his own firm for furniture and space design, Hayek Studio
She studied international relations at the Universidad Iberoamericana in Mexico City before making her television debut aged 23 in Mexican telenovela Un Nuevo Amanecer (A New Sunrise), which later earned her the title role in another telenovela, Teresa, which ran for two years and 125 episodes from 1989 to 1991.
Salma Hayek's Acting Career
Following her time on Teresa, Salma moved to Los Angeles in pursuit of a career in Hollywood, where she studied with famed acting coach Stella Adler. Her break-out role came in 1995 in the Robert Rodriguez film Desperado, which also starred Antonio Banderas. Following that, she had a brief role in his film From Dusk till Dawn – its screenplay is by Quentin Tarantino – which had her famous erotic dance scene as a vampire queen.
In 2002, she starred as Mexican artist Frida Kahlo in Julie Taynor's biopic on the surrealist painter. Her portrayal earned her an Oscar nomination for Best Actress – she was the first Mexican actress to receive the nod – and she also received Golden Globe Award, Screen Actors Guild Award and British Academy Film Award nominations.
Other notable films of Salma's include Once Upon a Time in Mexico, House of Gucci, Beatriz at Dinner, Eternals, The Hitman's Bodyguard, Grown Ups, and more.
Salma Hayek's Personal Life
Beyond her work in acting, Salma has committed to significant philanthropic and humanitarian work as well for several decades, particularly to that pertaining to violence against women and discrimination against immigrants. In partnership with Gucci, in 2013 she launched Chime for Change, an international campaign focused on women's education, health and justice.
In 2007, she got engaged to French billionaire and Kering CEO François-Henri Pinault, and they welcomed their daughter Valentina in September of that year.
