Salma Hayek Pinault’s ‘Confidence Crash Course’ Is Exactly What You Need This Week

When it comes to effortlessly cool confidence, there are few stars today doing it like Salma Hayek Pinault.

An award-winning actor, producer and all-around icon, Hayek Pinault—who joined SI Swimsuit for the first time last year with a gorgeous cover shoot in Mexico—recently graced one of three covers for The Cut’s Fall Fashion Issue. Alongside a striking photo spread and an interview led by Angelina Jolie, the star also chatted with the outlet about her approach to keeping a confident mindset in an Instagram video aptly named “Salma Hayek [Pinault]’s Confidence Crash Course.”

Of course, it’s no surprise that the actor started a video about effortlessly cool confidence by sporting an effortlessly cool look! In the clip, Hayek Pinault lounged in a plush white robe, her long, dark hair cascading in natural waves. Her skin was luminous, accentuated by the pop of peach blush coloring her cheeks.

She began by discussing how she approaches confrontation. She joked that she may “look like [she] loves confrontation,” but she tries to avoid it when she can. She then told a story from early in her career wherein a stylist did a wonderful job with everyone else’s look but not hers, and how she confidently told them to “do it again.” This led to our personal favorite line in the entire clip, with Hayek Pinault quipping, “I was like, ‘B----h, I woke up pretty. You were supposed to make me gorgeous.’”

She then opened up further about how she keeps her confidence high while aging, admitting that when she turned 30, that was the only time she “actually got depressed to get to an age.” However, her mindset changed when someone told her the “biggest privilege” a person can have in life is to be a “late bloomer.” She added that what she had imagined for herself at the time ended up being “inferior” to her current reality. (And these were just two of the questions she answered—the whole video is absolutely worth a watch!)

The 2025 SI Swimsuit cover star’s message was quickly embraced by fans in the comments, with hundreds of users cheering on her candid approach to confidence.

“‘I woke up pretty!’ Best quote👏👏👏,” one user applauded.

“That line needs to be a meme!! 🔥🔥🔥,” another fan exclaimed.

“👏❤️Great Advice 👏❤️❤️❤️Love Salma!❤️,” a commenter declared.

“Centuries of wisdom in 20 seconds!” Another concluded. “You are a superb human.”

We absolutely agree with all of the above statements, and would also like to formally request that Hayek Pinault teach a full course on this subject—needless to say, we’d be first in line to sign up!

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