Movie star and Eternals actor Salma Hayek got extremely emotional when she saw herself for the first time in the superhero costume, the actor said in a recent interview with Despierta America. Salma plays the Eternals leader Ajak in the Marvel Cinematic Universe feature. “When I put it on, I burst into tears. Not like in telenovelas, but the tears came out and I said, ‘What happened here?’ The image of it did something to me and I said, ‘Why?’ I saw my brown face…I saw my brown face in a superhero suit,” Hayek explained through tears.
Hayek added that upon seeing her reflection, she could see the dreams she had as a little girl of making it big, and how this eventuality can now further impact other Latinos, their choices and their careers.
“And in seeing my face, I saw your face. I saw my face as a little girl, who had to have a lot of courage to dream big. I saw the face of all the little girls…and I realized that a door had opened where I didn’t enter alone — but inside that suit were all the Latinos who waited so long for this moment,” the actor added.
Salma was accompanied by Marvel Studios’ Victoria Alonso who elaborated on why this moment in MCU history is so significant. “This moment is so important because — don’t forget, I’ve been at Marvel for 16 years trying — and I told her this the first time I met her…that she had no idea just how long I’ve waited for this moment. The moment I saw her in that suit was a moment that changed everything in my head, because if that’s possible, many other things are possible,” said Victoria, who is the president of physical, post production VFX, and animation at Marvel Studios.