Eternals Star Salma Hayek Explains Why She Loved Filming the Marvel Movie

Salma Hayek has been busy promoting The Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard, her new action-comedy that co-stars Ryan Reynolds and Samuel L. Jackson. However, the sequel isn’t the only movie on Hayek’s 2021 line-up. The highly-anticipated Eternals movie from Academy Award-winning director Chloé Zhao will mark Hayek’s first entry into the Marvel Cinematic Universe. During a recent chat with USA Today, Hayek explained why making Eternals was an emotional experience.

“Something strange happened. I teared up a little bit. But it was not about my dreams to be a superhero. It was because it means so much to so many people that, to think that for a Mexican girl – a Mexican woman in her 50s – was able to be a superhero. I felt a lot of pride to have my superhero outfit on. It meant something,” Hayek shared.

In another recent interview with ComicBook.com, Hayek revealed that filming The Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard helped her prepare for the Marvel film. “The action scenes actually did help a lot … it took away some of the rust and they were very helpful for what came after, which is the Eternals,” Hayek explained.

“It never crossed my mind to be in a Marvel movie,” Hayek shared with Variety last month. “I guess that I thought that boat had sailed, and it was an absolute shock. All of a sudden, I got a call: ‘They want to talk to you about a new franchise.’ And I was like, ‘What?’ And I said OK, but they don’t tell you any information until you’re on the call. It’s kind of hard to be an action hero if you’re Mexican. It’s really hard to be an action hero if you’re a Mexican and a woman. But to be an action hero, being Mexican, a woman, and my age, it felt like they were punking me. And then the worst part is that I was one of the first people they cast. I had to keep my mouth shut for so many months. I couldn’t tell a soul. And I couldn’t wait for the day that I could say it.”

Eternals is currently scheduled to hit on theatres on November 5th. The rest of the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s 2021 line-up includes Loki, which releases new episodes on Disney+ on Wednesdays, Black Widow in theatres and Disney+ Premier Access on July 9th. What If… on Disney+ in August, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings in theatres on September 3rd, Hawkeye and Ms. Marvel coming to Disney+ later in the year, and Marvel’s Spider-Man: No Way Home in theatres on December 17th.