Mexico’s Salma Hayek needs little introduction, she has been a presence on international screens now, for three decades. She recalls seeing the 1971 film Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, when she was 12, was her initial inspiration to act. After a university education, she began her career with starring role in the Mexican telenovela Teresa (1989–1991) as well as the romantic drama El Callejón de los Milagros (1995), for which she received an Ariel Award nomination. It took Hayek several years to establish herself in Hollywood. Her appearances in films such as Desperado (1995) and From Dusk till Dawn (1996) led to Wild Wild West (1999), and Dogma (1999).
Hayek’s portrayal of painter Frida Kahlo in the biographical film Frida (2002), which she also produced, made her the first Mexican actress to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress and additionally earned her Golden Globe Award, Screen Actors Guild Award and British Academy Film Award nominations.
We chat to Salma along with Joel Crawford, the director of Puss in Boots: The Last Wish. Crawford joined Dreamworks Animation in 2006 as a storyboard artist on Shrek Forever After, Rise of the Guardians, the Kung Fu Panda trilogy, and Bee Movie. He then went on to direct The Croods: A New Age before taking the helm on Puss in Boots: The Last Wish.
The character of Puss in Boots (voiced by Antonio Banderas) was spun off from Shrek 2 (2004) and eventually became the main character of a six season Netflix series The Adventures of Puss in Boots (2015-2018). Puss in Boots:The Last Wish is the sequel to the original Puss in Boots movie made in 2011. Hayek was also in the original movie and has returned eleven-years later to reprise the character of Kitty Softpaws.
You can see our review of Puss in Boots: The Last Wish here and our Interview with Harvey Guillén who plays Perrito here. Don’t forget you can also listen to our interviews via most podcast streaming services just do a search for “The Accessreel.com Interviews”.