Salma Hayek turned 60 in September with a film of her own to direct and, she says, the health, energy and dreams to keep doing what she loves.
The birthday had worried her for decades. “It sounded so scary in the 20s, in the 30s, in the 40s, even in the 50s. It’s not scary at all. Once you get here, it’s not bad at all,” she said.
“I’m still doing what I love, and I have the blessing of my family and friends and health and energy and dreams. Let’s go.”
Her next career chapter includes Arena, a romantic adventure she wrote that’s also her first film as a director. Asked about her remaining ambitions, Hayek said, “I just directed my first film and that’s very exciting.”
That confidence follows another milestone she’d struggled to imagine for herself: her 2025 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit cover, at 58. Hayek previously said she’d experienced a “very bad case of imposter syndrome” before the shoot and tried to back out after agreeing to it, worrying that the swimsuits wouldn’t fit.
She’d looked at the magazine when she was younger without imagining she’d ever be on its cover. “My body’s not necessarily the model type and I never thought that was a possibility. And for it to happen when I’m 58? It’s really shocking,” she said.
As for directing another movie, she’s keeping her attention on Arena: “Well, let me finish this one. Let’s stay in the present. It’s great. The present is great.”