Salma Hayek Covers Sunday Times Style June 27, Lensed by Matt Easton

Actor and producer Salma Hayek covers The Sunday Times Style Magazine June 27, 2021. Annabelle Harron styles Hayek in sleek black elegance with bold jewelry. Photographer Matt Easton [IG] is in the studio for ‘I am a lot more than what you see’. /Hair by Miguel Perez; makeup by Alex Babsky

Salma Hayek insisted that she have creative freedom to stay in character for the upcoming ‘Hitman’s Bodyguard’ sequel, officially titled ‘Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard’. For Hayek that meant playing a middle-aged woman who is menopausal.

A long-time activist, Hayek was adamant about tackling age discrimination in the movies. Being menopausal does not mean that a woman’s libido is dead, leaving her incapable of sexual pleasure. Initially she turned down the movie, wrote The Chicago Tribune. Ryan Reynolds promised her that Hayek would have significant input.

“I was also extra lucky because I was included in the process of the second movie and I thought that was very generous, but also very smart, because the problem with action films is it’s mostly men who do them,” Hayek says about the movie. “And I was heard. Of course there were some things that they were like, ‘Really? Are you sure we should go in this direction? It’s an action comedy, is dealing with menopause something that people are going to find funny or interesting?’ But they listened.”

In true Salma Hayek fashion, she levels with us in no uncertain terms about aging women:

"You can kick ass at any age. You can hold your own at any age. You can dream at any age. You can be romantic at any age," she said. "We have the right to be loved for who we are at the place that we are. We're not just here to make babies. We're not just here to baby the men. We're not just here to, you know, service everything and everyone around us."

Love you, Salma. ~ Anne