Salma Hayek Pinault discussed the impact of being typecast in sexualised roles on her early career opportunities to star in comedies.

While speaking to GQ Hype for an interview published on Monday, the Magic Mike’s Last Dance star discussed her desire to take on comedic roles.

“I was typecast for a long time,” Salma recalled of her earlier career in dramatic roles. “My entire life I wanted to do comedy and people wouldn’t give me comedies. I couldn’t land a role until I met Adam Sandler, who put me in a comedy (2010’s Grown Ups), but I was in my forties!”

She continued, “They said, ‘You’re sexy, so you’re not allowed to have a sense of humour… Not only are you not allowed to be smart, but you were not allowed to be funny in the ’90s.’”

Salma reiterated her Academy Award nod for her portrayal of Frida Kahlo in the film Frida in 2002 did not help her career evolve as she had anticipated it would.

“When I was nominated for an Oscar the types of roles that people offered me did not change at all,” she revealed. “I really struggled and I thought that was going to change, but no.”

The actress remembered being “sad at the time” of receiving rejections for funny parts, but noted, “now here I am doing every genre, in a time in my life where they told me I would have expired – that the last 20 years I would have been out of business. So I’m not sad, I’m not angry; I’m laughing.”

Though the GQ interviewer described Salma as “quite clearly not laughing”, the 56-year-old insisted, “I’m laughing, girl.”

– Cover Media