Salma Hayek is still in the process of healing following a near-fatal bout with the coronavirus last year.
The “Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard” star revealed in a Variety cover story published Wednesday that her COVID-19 battle occurred during the early days of the pandemic.
“My doctor begged me to go to the hospital because it was so bad,” she told the publication, “I said, ‘No, thank you. I’d rather die at home.’”
Hayek spent about seven weeks in isolation at her home, which she shares with husband, Kering CEO François-Henri Pinault, and their 13-year-old daughter, Valentina. At one point, she was even put on supplemental oxygen, she said. Over a year later, the actress said she still hasn’t fully regained her normal levels of energy.
In April 2020, after she’d recovered from the illness and was no longer contagious, Hayek dove back into work. The project: Ridley Scott’s hotly-anticipated “House of Gucci” starring Lady Gaga and Adam Driver. The actress appreciated the quick return to normalcy but also admitted the shoot was occasionally burdened by her health.
“It was not a lot of time,” Hayek said. “It was easy. It was the perfect job to just get back into it. I had started doing Zooms at one point, but I could only do so many because I would get so tired.”
Hayek plays a psychic who was convicted of helping Patrizia Reggiani (Gaga) orchestrate the 1995 murder of her ex-husband Maurizio Gucci (Driver), heir to the Gucci fashion empire.
In spite of the medical setback behind the scenes, Hayek is poised to have an excellent year onscreen. Next month she’ll star opposite Ryan Reynolds and Samuel L. Jackson in the action comedy “Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard,” a sequel to 2017’s “The Hitman’s Bodyguard.” Then in November she’ll make her superhero flick debut in Marvel’s “The Eternals,” which also stars Angelina Jolie, Kit Harington, Kumail Nanjiani and more. In the latter film Hayek’s character Ajak is not only the leader of the immortal band of heroes, but fittingly, a super-healer.
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