Salma's Rise to Fame
It took years of struggle and frustration to finally achieve her dreams.
Salma began her acting career in Mexico. Her first acting roles were on small Spanish telenovelas, or soap operas, where she only earned small, minor roles (40 Interesting). However, her first acting achievement came in 1989 when she was cast as the title role in “Teresa.” This Mexican telenovela was wildly successful in Mexico, and overnight, Salma went from being just a pretty girl with a dream to a daytime star. Salma spent a year in this role, winning over the hearts of so many Mexicans who had fallen in love with her as Teresa (Biography).
This is the opening credits of "Teresa," which Salma starred in, making her famous throughout Mexico.
Interestingly enough........
When Salma left "Teresa," heartbroken fans spread rumors that she was having a secret affair with Mexico’s president and was leaving to escape his wife’s wrath (40 Interesting).
Hayek, struggling to make a career for herself, was cast in "Dream On" with a small role as a sexy maid.
With this newly earned fame, Salma turned her eyes towards bigger things. At age 24, she left “Teresa” to head for America to continue and expand her career (Biography). She first took a year off to learn and improve her English and study acting under acclaimed acting teacher, Stella Adler (AceShowBiz.com). This young actress “approached Hollywood with naive enthusiasm” (Biography). It was Salma's lifelong dream to become a Hollywood star, but as she auditioned for roles she quickly learned that, if Latina actresses were cast at all, they were “cast as the mistress maid or local prostitute” (Biography). Though as 1992 was coming to a close, Salma had only landed small parts such as on the HBO series “Dream On,” where she played a sexy maid (Biography).
After nearly 3 years in America, which had only resulted in minor roles, Salma couldn’t help but feel frustrated with her situation. On a late-night Spanish-language talk show hosted by comedian Paul Rodriguez, Salma vented this frustration she felt, believing that American filmmakers didn’t appreciate her talent (40 Interesting). Among the audience members was famous director Robert Rodriguez. He was “immediately taken by [her] intelligence, beauty, and strong opinions about the struggles of being a Latina actress in Hollywood” (Hede). Rodriguez finally offered Salma the opportunity she had been hoping so long for. He cast her in “Desperado,” where she co-starred with Antonio Banderas. This movie finally put her onto Hollywood’s radar (Biography).
Salma starring in her breakout role as Carolina in the movie Desperado.