Salma Hayek Pinault Unveils SI Swimsuit Cover on ‘The TODAY Show,’ Shares ‘Magical’ Moment on Set

The Academy Award-nominated actor stopped by the popular morning program to chat about her experience shooting for the 2025 issue.

Salma Hayek Pinault was photographed by Ruven Afanador in Mexico. Hat by Alémais. Necklace by Jacquie Aiche. / Ruven Afanador/Sports Illustrated

In case you missed it, the legendary Salma Hayek Pinault is gracing the 2025 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit issue as one of our four cover models, and we couldn’t be more excited for you to see her incredible photo shoot in Mexico!

To celebrate this massive news, the Academy Award-nominated actor stopped by The TODAY Show this morning to officially unveil her stunning cover image before sitting down to chat with hosts Savannah Guthrie and Craig Melvin about her SI Swimsuit experience.

When asked about how it felt to be on the 2025 cover, Hayek Pinault talked about her longtime admiration of the brand and the many models who’ve appeared on the cover over the years, but she also noted that she never imagined this moment would happen for her—especially now.

“I used to look at this magazine and wanted to see who was the new, gorgeous model, the new girl of the moment. It never crossed my mind that I could be on that cover,” she said. “Because [the models] didn’t look like me. My body isn’t necessarily the model type. I never thought that was a possibility, and for it to happen when I’m 58! It’s really shocking.”

Salma Hayek Pinault was photographed by Ruven Afanafor in Mexico. / Ruvan Afanador/Sports Illustrated

The actor also opened up about what it felt like to get the call from SI Swimsuit, noting she had a case of “Imposter Syndrome” (as the kids say), adding, “Eventually I said ‘Yes’ and when it was time to do it, I tried to back out!”

“I started to say ‘No’ because the bathing suits never fit me. [I was thinking] ‘How am I going to do this? There’s nothing [in] my size, I will suffer.’ [Then] they sent me 200 bathing suits [to try on].”

Salma Hayek Pinault was photographed by Ruven Afanador in Mexico. Swimsuit by Ark Swimwear. Necklace and body chain by Jacquie Aiche. / Ruven Afanador/Sports Illustrated

But it wasn’t smooth sailing from there, as Hayek Pinault told the story of her nerve-wracking timeline from alterations to final looks—and one not-so-small problem the team ran into along the way.

“I tried about 100 [swimsuits] on—more than 100. A lot of them needed to be altered. And then I was in L.A., so we did all the alterations in L.A. I took the suitcase with me to Mexico—because, of course, we shot it in Mexico—and guess what? They lost the suitcase,” she revealed to the shocked hosts.

When she arrived in Mexico, she found that the SI Swimsuit team was there with extra swimsuits on location, which was what she ended up wearing for her photo shoot.

Salma Hayek Pinault was photographed by Ruven Afanador in Mexico. Swimsuit by OYE Swimwear. Toe rings by Chan Luu. / Ruven Afanador/Sports Illustrated

But, with her tailored swimsuits missing in action along with her personal creams, medications and other lost items, Hayek Pinault noted she began the photo shoot not feeling as confident as she’d hoped—that is, until one particularly “magical” moment.

“I showed up [to set] feeling like, ‘What am I doing here?’ And the first shot is on the beach, I stood up, and a whale jumped behind me,” she smiled. “And all of a sudden I felt: this is magical. This is my land. I’m 58 and I’m doing this! My generation—especially Mexican women—we thought we were going to be dismissed at 35, you know? And I got so excited. I felt really free, and I put Bad Bunny on and I started dancing, and I loved it!”

And “magical” is exactly how we’d describe her breathtaking beach photo shoot.

The 2025 SI Swimsuit magazine is available online today and at select newsstands on May 17. Order your copy here.

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