Women We Love: Salma Hayek

We all went to see Desperado for the then red-hot Antonio Banderas, but when we left the theater, we all had one question on our minds: "Who was that smokin' hot babe?" It was Salma Hayek, of course, and we have been in love with the Latin beauty ever since.

At first, Hayek specialized in sexy siren roles, usually with unlikely names like Santanico Pandemonium (From Dusk Till Dawn) or Serendipity (Dogma). She was much too good for her one attempt at mainstream romantic comedy (Fools Rush In), and for a while there she was stuck in smallish roles in mediocre movies (54, The Faculty, Wild Wild West).

Hayek was bidding her time though, preparing for the role of a lifetime as the influential Mexican painter Frida Kahlo. Producing the film as well as starring, Hayek's performance in Frida was a revelation, delving deep into the pain and passion of the controversial artist. All the hard work paid off for Hayek when she earned her first Academy Award nomination as Best Actress.

After reprising her Desperado character for the sequel, Once Upon a Time in Mexico, Hayek co-starred in After the Sunset and Ask the Dust, and has continued producing with the unexpected television hit, Ugly Betty. She even appeared on the critically acclaimed comedy series (nominated for ten Emmy Awards) in another smokin' hot performance, as a no-nonsense career woman who was, no surprise, also quite the babe.

Links via Imdb.com and Wikipedia.org.