Tiffany Haddish, Salma Hayek Pinault, and Rose Byrne on the Film That Brought Them Together
Tiffany Haddish knows the importance of chemistry. So when she got the script for Like a Boss and learned she would potentially be playing Rose Byrne’s best friend, it was clear what she had to do: invite Byrne for a drink to figure out if they could pull off having a 20-year-long rapport.
“We hung out for four hours,” says Haddish. “We’re sitting, we’re drinking, we’re eating, we’re laughing. Having so much fun. We just instantly connected. I was like, ‘Girl, I think we should walk down the street and see a psychic to see if we were sisters or cousins in a past life.’”
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“I was so nervous,” Byrne says of that first date. “The most important part of the movie is that we’re besties and have that connection. And we’re so different — but we figured out that we have so many things in common. We’re exactly 5 feet 6 and a half, have really small ears, were born in 1979...”
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Haddish and Byrne eased right into their characters, Mel and Mia, who, as best friends and beauty-brand co-founders, are stuck in a professional rut. All Like a Boss was missing was the right person to play Mel and Mia’s adversary, Claire Luna — an ambitious beauty CEO who invests in their small company and also tries to tear their friendship apart. Enter Salma Hayek Pinault.
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Photo by Robbie Fimmano/Walter Schupfer Management
Above: Byrne in a Loewe dress, an Artisans of IQ necklace, Gaspar Gloves by Dorothy Gaspar gloves, and Brock Collection boots. Haddish in a Chanel coat, an Anne Fontaine blouse, a Gucci headpiece, a Kieselstein-Cord belt, Wing & Weft gloves, and Aquazzura boots. Hayek Pinault in an Alexander McQueen jacket and trousers, an Anne Fontaine blouse, a Saint Laurent earring (worn as brooch), a B-Low the Belt belt, and Tabitha Simmons boots.
“I’ve never really done a girls’ film,” says Hayek Pinault. “And I’ve always wanted to.” So when director Miguel Arteta, with whom she worked in 2007’s Beatriz at Dinner, reached out about Like a Boss, she says she did something she never does: She signed on without reading the script.
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“The three of us were very different from each other, and that makes for a richer experience,” says Hayek Pinault. “I just fell in love with them.”
In separate conversations, Hayek Pinault, Byrne, and Haddish share stories of ambition, age, science, and, ultimately, how each is right where she wants to be.
Photos: Robbie Fimmano/Walter Schupfer. Styling: Julia Von Boehm. Hair: Ursula Stephen for Starworks Artists (Haddish), David von Cannon for Starworks Artists (Hayek Pinault), and Harry Josh for Statement Artists (Byrne). Makeup: Keita Moore for The Only Agency (Haddish), Genevieve Herr for Sally Harlor (Hayek Pinault), and Hung Vanngo for The Wall Group (Byrne). Manicures: Deborah Lippman for Starworks Artists. Set design: Todd Wiggins for The Magnet Agency. Production: Bo Zhang for Creative Production Group.
For more stories like this, pick up the January issue of InStyle, available on newsstands, on Amazon, and for digital download Dec. 20.
