Salma Hayek has dazzled audiences for decades, on red carpets, on screen, and behind the camera. But when it comes to what she’s truly proud of, it’s not her filmography or accolades. It’s her family.
In a recent interview with Italian magazine IO Donna, the 58-year-old actress got candid about the thing that matters most: raising her daughter Valentina and being a present stepmother to her husband François-Henri Pinault’s three children, François, Mathilde, and Augustin. “All my children, not just Valentina, now they are all independent and I am happy about it,” Hayek said. “I have invested a lot of time in it. My family has always been a priority.”
That decision didn’t come without sacrifices. Over the past 18 years, Hayek intentionally turned down roles or structured her career around her family’s needs. “You can see it in my career,” she noted. “I have only chosen roles shot mostly in the summer and in Europe.” While some actors chase back-to-back blockbusters, Hayek chose school runs and summers in France.
But don’t call it a sacrifice. “I did not have to sacrifice anything, but only organise myself better,” she clarified, because in her world, being a present parent wasn’t negotiable.
Now that her youngest, Valentina, is 18, Hayek is diving back into her professional ambitions with full force, and she’s doubling down on her mission to empower Latin voices in global entertainment. At the helm of her production company Ventanarosa, she’s been hard at work on a new TV adaptation of Laura Esquivel’s beloved 1989 novel Like Water for Chocolate. It took six years to bring the project to life, and Hayek is betting big on its cultural resonance. “When we consider that there are 600 million Spanish speakers in the world, it is easy to see the potential,” she said.
Ventanarosa already has a proven track record, remember Ugly Betty? That was them. And for Hayek, it’s not just about creating content. It’s about representation and real impact. “I’m aware there is still so much to do,” she said. “The certainty that every story I tell, every project I realise, can make a difference for someone else.”
True to form, she doesn’t brag about her philanthropic efforts. “I’m not interested in letting others know what I do for others, I am interested in just doing it. Change does not need advertising, it needs action. This has always guided me in life.”
It’s this quiet, relentless work ethic that drives her, often quite literally around the clock. “I basically work day and night,” she admitted. “During the day I give interviews, I do shootings or I have various meetings with the foundations I collaborate with; at night I am locked in the office with my production company because on the other side of the ocean it’s daytime.”
So yes, Salma Hayek is still a powerhouse in Hollywood. But her proudest production? The independent, grounded, emotionally intelligent humans she helped raise. And she wouldn’t trade that for any role in the world.
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