Why We Love...Salma Hayek

and why you should, too.

By Giselle Zado Wasfie
Published: Dec 05, 2007
Photography by ©Globe Photos

For years her mother asked why she was still single, to which her daughter would reply that she would marry when she found a man with more balls

She’s 40, pregnant for the first time and getting hitched to a billionaire (take that mom!)

That moustache in Frida, even if she only had it for a few minutes on screen

The Oscar nomination for Frida, which she also co-produced

How she burst into celebration when co-announcing the Oscar nominations earlier this year as the name of her good friend Penelope Cruz was read

That she and Cruz have never commented on gossip reports as to whether or not they are lesbian lovers (why not let people have their dreams)

Though her name means “calm” in Arabic, she’s always been feisty

When she appeared on the cover of a Vanity Fair issue in 2003 and inside, Dame Edna ridiculed Mexican immigrants, Hayek wrote a long letter to the editor. VF issued a public apology.

She’s a dutiful big sister, supporting her well-respected furniture designer brother Sami in his individual endeavors

She dated Ed Norton and Josh Lucas, hello

This photo

And this one too (really getting into it in the background)

Her Emmy win for directing TV’s The Maldonado Miracle

Creator and Executive Producer of the American version of Ugly Betty

Over 890,000 Google results for “Salma Hayek’s breasts” and, uh, growing everyday

Proudly sporting that chest in an elevator scene on Ugly Betty

At 5-2, even brash film mogul Harvey Weinstein has admitted to being intimated by Hayek, admiringly referring to her as a "ball-breaker" after trying to negotiate a re-edit with her and her film team

Ventanazul, the production company she formed with MGM

She’s an activist for violence against women and immigrant rights

Giselle Zado Wasfie, author of So Fly, has at least three things in common with Hayek: a petite frame, a younger brother and a part-Arab heritage. Concerning the first case, Wasfie often quotes Hayek who's said she "acts tall."

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