Salma Hayek, like many actors trying to break into Hollywood, had to do things for a role that she feared most. Getting into the industry is not easy and a small part in a movie can open the doors for an actor. Hayek was no exception, she met the writer and directors’ demand for a small cameo which proved to be her breakthrough role entering the industry.
While the Latina actor was already a big name in the Mexican film industry, she needed an entrance to Hollywood. Well, she did when the actor appeared in Robert Rodriguez’s 1996 horror From Dusk Till Dawn as a vampire stripper named Santánico Pandemonium. Her debut Holywood movie has a lot of memories imprinted in the mind of the actor.
Salma Hayek’s Breakthrough Cameo
It was a small part for Salma Hayek playing the vampire stripper dancing on stage in a bikini with a snake. A literal snake, despite having utmost fear towards the creature, she had to wrap the snake that was sliding on her naked skin. It was terrifying, the actor revealed later. In the film, Hayek appeared opposite George Clooney, Harvey Keitel, and Quentin Tarantino.
Clooney and Tarantino’s characters visited the stripper bar where Hayek’s Santánico was dancing with a python in a bikini. Recalling the moment, Magic Mike’s Last Dance actor said that he had to get on performing the role without any choreography.
“They just kind of threw me on the stage with the snake, put the music on and said, ‘Hey, dance!'” Hayek told GQ Magazine. According to the actor, the director said that the scene does not have any choreography as he didn’t want it to feel staged but rather pointed her in the direction of a strip club to conduct her own research. “I was feeling insecure [and] just wanted to get through it,” she said. “It was a really small part but to my surprise people really remember that moment.”
Explaining further, the 56-year-old said that once told E! News that she had to overcome her fear of snakes. “I have a phobia,” she said.
“It was not on the script. I agreed to the movie and then, Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino decided that the dance is with the snake on me.”
In cheer honesty, the actor also revealed that she had to take the role because “frankly, [she] really needed to pay the rent.” Later, people remembered the role and went on to become an iconic horror movie scene.
Improvise or Someone Else is Waiting for the Role
Earlier, Hayek told writer Tarantino about her fear of snakes saying she would not be able to perform with a snake. Tarantino said, she must or someone else will take over the part.
“Quentin told me, ‘Oh, by the way, you’re dancing with a snake.’ I said, ‘I can’t do that, I can’t do that. It’s my greatest fear.’ He said, well, Madonna will do it, I already talked to her, and she’s willing to dance with the snake,'” Hayek told Yahoo! In 2017.
The Frida actor also revealed that she also appeared briefly as a stripper in Rodriguez’s other projects as a favor to the director. Later, Tarantino wrote her part specifically keeping her in mind. “Where, of course, he makes me dance only for him,” Haley said recalling the part of the performance where she gets too close with Tarantino’s character, Richard Gecko.
“George Clooney was like, ‘How come she doesn’t look at us?’ [Quentin said], ‘Because I’m the writer,'” she added.
The role did some good to the actor despite her terrifying experience. She had to improvise the character and choreography by herself. “It was good because I had to overcome my greatest fear,” she told Yahoo!.
“I had to go [into a] trance to do the dance. And it was improvised. The dance is improvised. And there was no choreographer, nothing. Because you cannot choreograph the snake, we don’t know what she’s going to do!”
Hayek did more than improvisation for the role, she took it seriously and did some research. “In some cultures, the snake represented—I started doing research—your inner power,” she said. “And my whole thing that I brainwashed myself into doing this was about dancing with my own inner power.”
Her research pushed the actor to overcome her fear of snakes. In the scene, there’s no visible clue of her fear in the scene. It seemed she was immersed in the role she played.
Also read: MCU Star Salma Hayek Has Some Secrets You Didn’t Know About
Source: Best Life Online.
