Salma Hayek Reveals How Being Typecast in a Sexy Role Impacted Her Career

The actress shared how she wasn't cast in a regular comedy until her 40s.

Actress Salma Hayek is experiencing extreme success in her career right now, starring in a diverse range of films, but she recently reflected on being typecast and forced to only play sexy roles for many years.

Speaking with GQ UK, Hayek said, “I was typecast for a long time. My entire life I wanted to do comedy and people wouldn’t give me comedies. I couldn’t land a role until I met Adam Sandler, who put me in a comedy [2010’s Grown Ups], but I was in my forties!"

She continued, explaining, "They said, ‘You’re sexy, so you’re not allowed to have a sense of humor.' Not only are you not allowed to be smart, but you were not allowed to be funny in the ’90s."

The typecasting arguably began with Hayek's role as Santanico Pandemonium in 1996's From Dusk Til Dawn, a small role that gained Hayek a lot of notice. The actress said of filming the memorable scene in which Santanico dances with a snake, "I was feeling insecure [and] just wanted to get through it. It was a really small part but to my surprise people really remember that moment.”

After that, Hollywood boxed her into sexy roles, despite Hayek wanting to expand into other genres.

In the GQ UK interview, Hayek shared her thoughts on it now: "I was sad at the time, but now here I am doing every genre, in a time in my life where they told me I would have expired – that the last 20 years I would have been out of business. So I’m not sad, I’m not angry; I’m laughing."

In the past few years, Hayek has starred in comedies such as Like A Boss, action films like The Hitman's Bodyguard and its sequel, and dramas like House of Gucci. She even joined the Marvel Cinematic Universe as the powerful Ajak in Eternals.

Next up, she's playing Maxandra Mendoza in Magic Mike's Last Dance, coming out Feb. 10. Hayek said of the role, "More than being a movie about an older woman falling in love with a younger guy, it’s about a middle-aged woman that has a lot of potential and is sick of being undermined her entire life."