Salma Hayek honored with Walk of Fame star

Wave Wire Services

HOLLYWOOD — A star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame was unveiled Nov. 19 honoring Salma Hayek Pinault for a career that has included receiving a best actress Oscar nomination.

“I am very moved by tonight. It is, of course, a big honor,” Hayek Pinault said during the ceremony.

“We are all made out of stardust — I think it’s 94% of our atoms are the same as the stars,” she said. “We are all stars … and when you see this star, I want you to know that because you are all in my heart. Part of your stardust is in that place, so you tell all your friends you are part of that star too.”

She talked about doubts some had about her succeeding in America as a woman from Mexico, and she thanked those who opened doors for her, sharing advice to people following their own dreams.

“I would say to all of you, find something to love because the one thing that I stayed for was the love of cinema,” she said. “Find something to love. If you think you aren’t good at it, like I did, make yourself good at it.

“It doesn’t have to be the movies, be your best at everything you do. Try to be better,” Hayek Pinault added. “Try to find the joy in what you do. Work hard. Prepare. Don’t care what anybody says, but most importantly don’t listen to yourself when you bring yourself down.”

Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, Adam Sandler and Oscar-winning director Chloe Zhao joined Hayek Pinault in speaking at the ceremony in front of the box office of TCL Chinese Theatre Hollywood IMAX.

“It is my honor to be one of the presenters at the Hollywood Walk of Fame for the incomparable Salma Hayek,” Sandler said, calling her “one of the finest actresses of our generation” and a personal friend.

Hayek Pinault and Sandler appeared together in the 2010 comedy “Grown Ups” and its 2013 sequel “Grown Ups 2.” Zhao directed Hayek Pinault in the recently released Marvel film “Eternals.”

The ceremony came five days before the release of Hayek Pinault’s latest film, “House of Gucci,” portraying crafty psychic Pina Auriemma, who Patrizia Reggiani (Lady Gaga) forges a dangerous alliance with after her husband, Maurizio Gucci (Adam Driver), the head of the family’s fashion house, files for divorce.

“Pina was a very interesting woman,” Hayek Pinault said prior to the ceremony. “She’s clairvoyant. A psychic. She can tell the future. When she and Patrizia meet, they immediately connect, and something that starts as a professional relationship becomes a very strong, important friendship for both of them.”

Roberto Bentivegna, who wrote the screenplay for the three-decade saga of the family behind the Italian fashion empire with Becky Johnston, said Hayek Pinault “brought a real humanity to Pina, a woman who really comes to care about Patrizia.”

“She could’ve been played her in a very cynical way as someone who is just using Patrizia for her money,” Bentivegna said. “Instead, Salma and Lady Gaga developed a real chemistry, both on screen and off. It was fantastic.”

Born Sept. 2, 1966 in the Mexican state of Veracruz, Hayek Pinault began her career in 1988 in the Televisa telenovela “Un Nuevo Amanecer.” The following year she portrayed the title role in the Televisa telenovela “Teresa” about a beautiful and intelligent young woman desperately seeking to flee from her impoverished neighborhood.

Hayek Pinault moved to the Los Angeles area in 1991, appearing in episodes of the syndicated action crime drama “Street Justice,” the HBO comedy “Dream On” and the NBC comedy “Nurses” before making her film debut in the 1993 drama “Mi Vida Loca” about young Mexicanas and Chicanas growing up in then gang-ravaged Echo Park.

Hayek Pinault made her feature film debut in “Midaq Alley,” a 1995 Mexican film about residents in a lower-middle class neighborhood of Mexico City.

Hayek Pinault began her collaboration with director Robert Rodriguez with the 1995 neo-Western action film “Desperado.” She would later appear in his films, “From Dusk Till Dawn,” “Once Upon a Time in Mexico,” “Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over” and “The Faculty.”

Hayek Pinault received a best actress Oscar nomination in 2003 for her portrayal of Mexican artist Frida Kahlo in “Frida,” which she co-produced.

She also received an outstanding guest actress in a comedy series Emmy nomination in 2007 for her recurring role of magazine editor Sofia Reyes in the ABC comedy-drama “Ugly Betty,” which she co-produced.

Hayek Pinault also had the recurring role of nurse Elisa Pedrera on the NBC comedy “30 Rock.”