Salma Hayek Trivia: 33 fun facts about the actress!

Salma Hayek is a Mexican-American film actress, producer, and former model. Find out more interesting facts about her!

1. Salma Hayek Jiménez de Pinault was born September 2, 1966 in Coatzacoalcos, Veracruz, Mexico.

2. Her younger brother, Sami, is a furniture designer.

3. Her mother, Diana Jiménez Medina, is an opera singer and talent scout.

4. Her father, Sami Hayek, is an oil company executive and owner of an industrial-equipment firm, who once ran for mayor of Coatzacoalcos.

5. Her father is of Lebanese descent, with his family being from the city Baabdat, Lebanon, a city Salma and her father visited in 2015 to promote her movie Kahlil Gibran’s The Prophet.

6. Her mother is of Mexican/Spanish descent, with her grandmother and maternal great-grandparents being from Spain.

7. Raised in a wealthy, devout Roman Catholic family, she was sent to the Academy of the Sacred Heart in Grand Coteau, Louisiana, USA, at the age of twelve.

8. In school, she was diagnosed with dyslexiaand ADHD.

9. She attended university in Mexico City, where she studied International Relations at the Universidad Iberoamericana.

10. She began her career in Mexico starring in the telenovela Teresa and starred in the film El Callejón de los Milagros (Miracle Alley) for which she was nominated for an Ariel Award.

11. In 1991 Hayek moved to Hollywood and came to prominence with roles in movies such as Desperado (1995), Dogma (1999), and Wild Wild West (1999).

12. Her breakthrough role was in the 2002 film Frida as Mexican painter Frida Kahlo for which she was nominated in the category of Best Actress for an Academy Award, BAFTA Award, Screen Actors Guild Award, and Golden Globe Award.

13. This movie received widespread attention and was a critical and commercial success.

14. She won a Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Directing in a Children/Youth/Family Special in 2004 for The Maldonado Miracle and received an Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series in 2007 after guest-starring in the ABC television comedy-drama Ugly Betty.

15. She also guest-starred on the NBC comedy series 30 Rock from 2009 to 2013.

16. Hayek’s recent films include Grown Ups (2010), Puss in Boots (2011), Grown Ups 2 (2013), and Tale of Tales (2015).

17. Her name means “peace” or “calm” in Arabic.

18. Salma Hayek was raised in a Catholic home by her a Spanish mother and Lebanese father before she found fame in Hollywood.

19. As a child, Hayek’s grandmother regularly shaved her head and eyebrows because she thought it would make her hair grow thicker, glossier and darker.

20. After having seen Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory (1971) in a local movie theatre, Salma decided she wanted to become an actress.

21. When she was 12 years old she was sent to a boarding school in Louisiana and was expelled after two years.

22. In 1991, the ambitious Hayek moved to Los Angeles, California, determined to improve her English and become a Hollywood actress.

23. Hayek left the popular novela, Teresa which she appeared on since 1989. Heartbroken fans spread rumors that she was having a secret affair with Mexico’s president and left to escape his wife’s wrath.

24. Her performance in the movie ‘Frida’ garnered Hayek’s best career reviews and made her one of four Latinas nominated for Best Actress at the Academy Awards.

25. Throughout her career she has won many awards including a Screen Actor’s Guild Award and a Daytime Emmy.

26. Hayek is the mother to five-year-old Valentina Paloma and wife to French billionaire Francois Henri Pinault.

27. When Hayek is not busy filming, she likes watching Mexican soccer, practicing Krav Maga (the official self defense system of the Israeli military) and spending time with Valentina.

28. Salma Hayek was diagnosed with dyslexia.On top of dyslexia, Salma is also diagnosed with ADHD or popularly known as Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder.

29. She is very fond of animals. She turned her house into a shelter for stray animals. Right now she homes five parrots, one cat without a tail that was rescued by one of her 10 dogs, four ducks, 20 chickens, five horses, two guinea pigs and four alpacas.

30. When Hayek and “Friends” star Matthew Perry filmed the movie “Fools Rush In,” there were rumors that the on-screen lovers hated each other in real life. Both dispelled the rumors some time later.

31. Her favorites movies are It Happened One Night, The Graduate, Gone with the Wind and Casablanca.

32. Hayek played a stripper in two movies: “Dogma” and “From Dusk Till Dawn.”

33. Hayek’s on-screen sex scene with actor Colin Farrell in “Ask The Dust” won her the highly desired Best Nude Scene Award in 2006.