Salma Hayek Opens Up About Her Nearly Fatal Battle With COVID-19

The pandemic hit Salma Hayek hard.

In a new Variety cover story, the actress reveals that she suffered from a nearly fatal case of COVID-19 early into the pandemic, spending months recovering from the disease.

“My doctor begged me to go to the hospital because it was so bad,” the 54-year-old says. “I said, ‘No, thank you. I’d rather die at home.’”

Hayek was at one point placed on oxygen and was also isolated in a room in her house for seven weeks. She adds that she still hasn’t fully regained her energy.

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In April, Hayek finally returned to work in front of the camera to shoot a part in Ridley Scott’s upcoming film “House of Gucci”.

“It was not a lot of time,” she says. “It was easy. It was the perfect job to just get back into it. I had started doing Zooms at one point, but I could only do so many because I would get so tired.”

In the interview, Hayek also opens up about having lost out on at least two leading roles in films because she was Mexican.

“I remember there were two big comedies I auditioned for the lead. Afterwards, the directors told me that I was the best audition and that I was better than who they cast and that they regretted it,” she says. “But at the time, they knew the studios wouldn’t have gone for a Mexican as the lead.”

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Also on the horizon is Hayek’s role in the upcoming Marvel film “Eternals”, directed by Oscar winner Chloé Zhao.

“It never crossed my mind to be in a Marvel movie. I guess that I thought that boat had sailed, and it was an absolute shock. All of a sudden, I got a call: ‘They want to talk to you about a new franchise.’ And I was like, ‘What?’ And I said OK, but they don’t tell you any information until you’re on the call,” she says. “It’s kind of hard to be an action hero if you’re Mexican. It’s really hard to be an action hero if you’re a Mexican and a woman. But to be an action hero, being Mexican, a woman, and my age, it felt like they were punking me. And then the worst part is that I was one of the first people they cast. I had to keep my mouth shut for so many months. I couldn’t tell a soul. And I couldn’t wait for the day that I could say it.”

Hayek is also hoping that sometime in the next year she will be able to get behind the camera to direct a film based on a script she wrote 17 years ago.

“It’s a very personal project, and this is the right time,” she says, though she refuses to give any details. “It couldn’t have gotten made two years ago or even last year. It’s very ambitious. It’s not a small film. I don’t give up. I’ll get it made.”