Salma Hayek opens up about the bullying she experienced from Harvey Weinstein during the filming of Frida. Hayek starred as surrealist Mexican artist Frida Kahlo in the 2002 biographical drama. Serving as Hayek's longtime dream project, the movie would go on to score two Academy Awards for Best Makeup and Best Original Score, along with six total nominations. The film received generally positive reviews upon release with critics praising Hayek's portrayal of the real-life artist.
Weinstein, who served as producer for Frida, is currently serving a 23-year prison sentence after being found guilty of sexual assault and rape. News of Weinstein's years of sexual torment in the film industry became public back in October 2017. The sexual abuse allegations against Weinstein dated back to the late 1970s with over 80 women joining the accusations by October 31 of that year. The allegations would go on to spark the #MeToo social media campaign that aimed to expose sexual abuse committed by men in power from around the world. It appears Hayek also endured abuse from Weinstein as well.
In a new profile for The Guardian, Hayek recalls the bullying she experienced from Weinstein during the filming of Frida. Reflecting on a piece she wrote for The New York Times back in 2017, Hayek details the amount of times she had to turn down Weinstein's sexual advances. However, as Hayek recounts, her piece was more "focused on the bullying" she endured from Weinstein as opposed to the sexual harassment. According to Hayek, Weinstein went ballistic over the actress's makeup (which would later go on to win an Oscar) that transformed her into the infamous Mexican artist. The makeup was complete with painter's signature unibrow, and Weinstein reportedly reacted to it by telling Hayek, "I didn't hire you to look ugly." Read Hayek's recounting of Weinstein's abuse on the set of Frida below:
“When he would call me up [during the making of ‘Frida’] and scream, ‘Why do you have a [monobrow] and mustache? I didn’t hire you to look ugly!’ I was like, ‘But didn’t you ever look at a picture of Frida Kahlo?’ If a man was playing Cyrano de Bergerac, he wouldn’t say, ‘What’s with the nose?’”
While Weinstein's bullying did "depress" the actress, Hayek recalls she ultimately "did feel all right." The actress was able to see the "cartoon aspect" of the situation, which is a questionable take, considering the makeup for Frida was true enough to the real-life artist that it would go on to win an Oscar. However, while Hayek was able to look past the abuse she experienced from Weinstein, other women were not so lucky. The list of women accusing the disgraced producer of sexual abuse includes other famous actresses, such as Kate Beckinsale, Angelina Jolie, Gwyneth Paltrow, and many more.
While it's fortunate that Weinstein has been held accountable for his horrific crimes, as Hayek also points out, he's not the only man in history to use his position of power to abuse women. The #MeToo movement helped expose many other abuses suffered in Hollywood. While Hayek gave an impressive performance in Frida, it's unfortunate that her experience is now clouded with those memories of bullying and abuse.
Source: The Guardian