Salma Hayek Pinault Continues to Challenge the Status Quo

The actress and crusader found her shoot to be exhilarating. And so did we.

It’s next to impossible to capture in print what it’s like to have a conversation with Salma Hayek Pinault.

Sure, she popped off the screen in movies like 2002’s Frida, a passion project that earned her a Best Actress Oscar nomination, and more recently, Magic Mike’s Last Dance. Her purring voice made her an unforgettable feline foil to the animated Puss in Boots, memorably rendered by Antonio Banderas. Though she is a forever style icon, her 15-year marriage to François-Henri Pinault, CEO of Kering (which owns, among other brands, Gucci, Balenciaga and Saint Laurent), turned her into fashion royalty. And her years of outspoken philanthropy make her a tireless warrior for women’s rights.  

But knowing all of this can’t prepare you for talking with the 58-year-old Hayek Pinault in real life. She has an unparalleled effervescence that exhibits her multitudes, sometimes all in one humorous quip. Sultry siren. Self-aware, fast-talking dame. Street-smart crusader. Warm and wise earth mother. 

And now: Sports Illustrated Swimsuit cover model. 

“It’s so bizarre!” Hayek Pinault shouts, as soon as she gets on a video call. She’s at home in London, sporting Balenciaga glasses and a large, beaded necklace, fielding questions from her teenage daughter, Valentina, whom she shoos out of the room. “I’m nearly 60! At this stage, it wouldn’t have crossed my mind. The first thing you get is—what is that word?—imposter syndrome. You have the imposter syndrome immediately.”

Meet the Cover Model . https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/v1746835825/images/voltaxMediaLibrary/mmsport/si_swimsuit/01jtvrdh52bbdw5x0c45.jpg. View the Full Gallery. https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/v1746835790/images/voltaxMediaLibrary/mmsport/si_swimsuit/01jtvrdgq2syym9bn1cb.jpg. More Salma Hayek Pinault. Salma Hayek Pinault In Issue. https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/v1746835822/images/voltaxMediaLibrary/mmsport/si_swimsuit/01jtvrdh3rscty6bee10.jpg

It seems antithetical to think that, with Hayek Pinault’s extensive résumé, she would feel uncomfortable about anything. She began starring in Mexican telenovelas in her 20s, moved on to Hollywood blockbusters and is still working in front of the camera. Next up is Sacrifice, opposite Anya Taylor-Joy and Chris Evans. Ventanarosa, the production company she founded more than 25 years ago, is responsible for the megahit Ugly Betty and, more recently, the acclaimed HBO original series Like Water for Chocolate.

This is a woman who has appeared on dozens of magazine covers, including Vogue, Elle and InStyle, not just for her entertainment work but also for her philanthropic efforts with the Kering Foundation, which she cofounded, Gucci Chime, Baby2Baby and UNICEF. Who has bared her body several times on screen. Who boldly confessed her harrowing experiences with Harvey Weinstein in a bracing December 2017 New York Times op-ed. 

But, for Hayek Pinault, the SI Swimsuit Issue always represented something unattainable. 

“I used to look at this magazine, and all the models that were in it, they were so perfect and so beautiful,” she explains. “This was the top of the top of the top. It was a landmark for models. It was an iconic space for ultimate beauty, even if it was a magazine that was not about that normally. But each issue was the trailblazer of what is beauty today.”

Salma Hayek Pinault was photographed by Ruven Afanador in Mexico. Swimsuit by Alida Herbst. / Ruven Afanador/Sports Illustrated

Despite her brazen confidence, Hayek Pinault doesn’t identify with perfect and beautiful. She describes herself as curvy. “And also I’m short,” she concedes. (She’s 5' 1½".) “It was impossible for me to meet the standards of beauty of the ’90s—skinny and tall. No matter how skinny I was going to get, I was always going to be curvy. I can’t stretch my legs! It is what it is. I was never going to be in that club.” She also notes that when it comes to the diversity of its selections, the SI Swimsuit “rainbow was often very monochromatic.” 

So when SI Swimsuit asked if she’d appear on the 2025 cover, Hayek Pinault was, well, skeptical. 

“I thought there was a catch,” she says. Maybe they wanted her because the theme was “100 women who once had a good body,” Hayek Pinault recalls thinking. “A special edition. You know: Bodies of All Decades, and I was going to be ‘the late 50s.’ Also, I thought it was going to be many women at the same time. I thought, I don’t want to stand next to the skinny tall models!”

Soon, she learned that this would be a photo shoot with her—alone. “And when I realized it was just me, I said, ‘These people are going to be so disappointed when I show up. My body is not bad for my age, but it’s not that great.’ ” 

Still, “reluctantly,” Hayek Pinault recalls, she said yes. It was a decision that put her “in an absolute panic.” So, immediately, she tried to figure out a way to get out of it. She was so anxious she was losing sleep. “I’m comfortable with my body, but I became uncomfortable with my body,” she says. “I started completely becoming a diva. I said, ‘I don’t want anybody there [on the set].’ I started becoming a hypochondriac, [thinking] that I didn’t feel good. I was very insecure.” A week before the shoot, she was micromanaging the shading of a fake tan application on her legs and “thinking about how to get out of this.”

LET’S BACK UP a second and talk about Hayek Pinault’s workout regimen. 

“I don’t exercise,” she says, with a conviction that you can’t help but believe. “I’ve never done weights in my life.”  

This is how Hayek Pinault describes how she stays in shape: “I meditate for a long time. That’s my secret. It’s the opposite of no pain, no gain. I go to a place, and I never know what’s going to happen. It’s an experimentation every day, and there are no rules. But it tones.” (Hayek Pinault, who has touted the benefits of ultrasound, recently became the first celebrity ambassador for Merz Aesthetics.)

Salma Hayek Pinault was photographed by Ruven Afanador in Mexico. Bottom by Torso Vintages Collection. Body chain by Logan Hollowell. / Ruven Afanador/Sports Illustrated

How did she learn how to do this? “I don’t know, I kind of figured it out,” she responds. Can she teach us all how to do the same thing? “I don’t think you can teach anybody. You are your own teacher.” 

She’s also not great when it comes to dieting. “I can only do it for so long,” she says. Limitations and rules don’t work for her. “When I go on antibiotics, and someone tells me, ‘You cannot drink,’ I want a shot immediately. I don’t do well with discipline and routine.”

As Hayek Pinault fought against her true nature, her lack of a workout mentality and her resistance to cutting carbs, she says that “something magical happened.” As she panicked, she also started exercising. That didn’t involve a trainer, but it did entail wearing ankle weights. “I just did the same thing I was doing but with ankle weights.”

She also went on a diet. Or at least the Hayek Pinault version of a diet. Skipping dessert. Trying to eat less, or half. Saving the rest for later. Spacing out meals. 

Then there was that nagging voice in her head, of Salma the street-smart crusader. “If I chickened out, then I don’t participate in the movement,” she says, knowing what it represents for a Lebanese-Mexican 58-year-old woman to be in a bikini all over newsstands and the internet. “It’s important young people see it.” Suddenly, it was time for a Los Angeles fitting, where there were 50 different suits. She was again, suspicious: “I said, ‘Impossible!’ I cannot even find three for me that fit [when I shop for myself].” 

When she got to L.A., Hayek Pinault found that, with the help of a seamstress, the swimsuits actually fit. So she filled a suitcase with suits and “all my creams, all my melatonin, my stomach medication, all the special tricks.” And then, “as if I didn’t have enough anxiety,” she says, the airline lost her luggage. 

Salma Hayek Pinault was photographed by Ruven Afanador in Mexico. Swimsuit by Riot Swim. Dress by Alexander McQueen. / Ruven Afanador/Sports Illustrated

That’s when she started to let go. After a sleepless night, she showed up on set. “I was shaky,” she says. But the minute she took off her robe, a whale jumped right behind her. She turned around and saw a splash. “And something happened, you know,” she remembers. 

Here, Hayek Pinault’s unparalleled effervescence starts to pour out in an amazing monologue: “Just being in nature. Being in Mexico. Being with this team. Having been invited to this club that I never thought I would be a part of. I kind of wanted to cry. I felt this thing. And all of a sudden, I said, ‘F--- it. I am this ocean. I am this sand. I am this wind. I am beautiful like it is. Imperfect but wild and beautiful. I feel great about my body. I feel great about my age.’ And I had the f---ing best time. I was free and I was wild. It was kind of spiritual. I went from absolute anxiety and panic to absolute peace and freedom. From absolutely insecure to being proud of the woman I am. And, for all the bad crazy things that are happening, I’m grateful for this change in the world—where it’s celebrated to arrive at a certain age and still feel beautiful.”

Her family agrees. Valentina told her, “You look great.” Hayek Pinault sent behind-the-scenes snaps to her husband, who understands the impact of the SI Swimsuit legacy. “I was sending him pictures like a little girl with a boyfriend,” she recalls. “He was very impressed and excited about it and proud. He knows I stepped it up a little bit. I’m grateful to have in my life a man who is supportive.” 

Hayek Pinault compares the experience to when she participated in the Olympic torch relay last July. “You can laugh at me all you want, but every step I took, I did it with my heart,” she says. “I did it with the hope that energetically these good vibes and these good intentions went somewhere. Just like during this shoot. I’m representing a lot of people that are like me. They might not be famous, but they are like me, so when the light hits me, they come with me. And I feel them.” 

Salma Hayek Pinault was photographed by Ruven Afanador in Mexico. Swimsuit by TJ Swim. Necklace by Foundrae. Belly chain by Saint Laurent. / Ruven Afanador/Sports Illustrated

If it’s not clear already, Hayek Pinault likes to challenge the status quo, and she sees her SI Swimsuit experience as doing that. “I felt like I broke something and stepped into somewhere else,” she explains. 

There’s also the aspect of personal growth. “Will I top this? Will I continue to surprise myself?” she asks. “It’s a mathematical equation. When you are always open and looking for the opportunity to grow and you evolve, you will surprise yourself.” 

And then there’s the larger impact, or at least the one she’s aiming for. “I hope they can feel the energy of my magical country. I hope that the joy and the freedom I felt, I hope that it’s in the pictures,” Hayek Pinault says, her enthusiasm jumping off the laptop screen. “Because behind it there’s a story of endurance, and a story of change in society, and a story for empowerment for women. And there’s a story of an untenable spirit that won’t give up.”