The following interview with Salma Hayek, the force behind the film Frida, is one of the best I have heard on the topic of winning awards for your work. At the time of this interview, she had been nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Actress, which went to Nicole Kidman for The Hours, instead. But still to come was the rest of the award season, including the Oscars. Additional nominations came from BAFTA, the Screen Actors Guild, the American Film Institute, the Broadcast Film Critics Association, and from other festivals, foundations and international circles.
She was suddenly recognized all over the world for bringing the life story of Frida Kahlo to the screen, after years of various scripts, directors and detours. Before this, she had only been seen in occasional roles on Mexican and American television and in small films. She had not yet proven herself able to take on the leading portrayal of such a complex and iconic figure in Mexican history. Nor was she known to American or European audiences.
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| Photo image: Salma Hayek 2001. Bringing herself and Frida to the Silver Screen |
She speaks about how all of this sudden attention and acclaim has affected her, while it was still going on, and while the outcome of these awards were unknown. Some of her thoughts are forming as she answers the questions. You can watch the entire interview that comes with the DVD's special features, but below I have selected the statements that have stayed with me over the years. They reflect what she learned from Frida Kahlo-- and then taught viewers like me-- about passion and focus, and how to stay committed to a love affair with your own purpose.
"I think this project has changed my life. And it might seem that it's changed my life once [Frida] came out. But it changed my life the minute I became involved in it. My life has changed, but the way my attitude changed is very specific thanks to the process that I lived in those eight years.
"All of these awards and this award season puts you in a situation where you've never been before, so you're exploring a different part of yourself. I learned my competitive genes are not as many as I thought (laughs). I was, "Oh, my God, this is great! I want to win this!" for… two weeks, maybe. Or maybe not even. The first feeling I had when I got nominated for the Golden Globe-- and it was a shock-- I felt lonely. I felt a sensation of loneliness, because the rest of my gang was not there with me. Because they didn't nominate a lot of people that I wish had also been nominated. So, instead of being overjoyed, immediately the first thing that came into my body was this loneliness.
"I think-- I have learned to think-- we often dream and want things we don't [really] want. [We think we need certain] things to obtain, to manipulate, to get the things we really want. So, I used to think about these awards like, "I want to get the award-- I have to get this award-- so that I [will] have respect in this town and so that I [will] get better opportunities. All of a sudden, I feel like I do have respect in this town; not because somebody decided to give me an award, but because I decided to earn it with hard work. I already have what the award would give me. The difference is, did somebody choose to give it to me, or did I choose to give it to myself?
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| Photo image: Frida Kahlo circa 1935. Choosing to give herself What She Wants. |
"When Nicole (Kidman) won the Golden Globe… I was very happy because she said, 'I want to thank my agent for giving me this script (The Hours) and making me read it.' And I got a huge smile on my face because I was the one with a script going around for seven years saying to everyone, "You've got to read this!" And so there was a sensation of accomplishment that goes beyond any award, because I made it happen.
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| Photo image: Salma Hayek at 2003 Golden Globe Awards |
"[Now], I feel peaceful. I know this is a very exciting time in my life, but Frida has given me so many things, and I think she will continue to, because she's been an inspiration and I've learned so many things. But if I could put everything in one word, and I think this is probably the biggest, the most important thing in life that you can get is… a great sense of peace. I feel that. I wanted to do something so badly, and I learned how to channel my passion into one thing and stay focused on that one thing. And it took eight years. And if it had taken sixteen years, I would have stayed in that place. She taught me how to do that. I have a great sense of accomplishment, but because of all the things I learned in that seven years, it's not a sense of accomplishment that comes with an ego. It's a sense of accomplishment that comes with peace.
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| Still photo from Frida, Scene: Writing letter to Diego Rivera from Paris |
"And so, I take it easy, now. I see life from a different perspective that is more simple, but more satisfying. So I think the biggest thing she brought into my life was this peacefulness. I still get passionate about things, but my passion is not so scattered, and it's not needy. It's a lot more powerful because it comes with this groundedness and peacefulness that its about the process and not about the results, and that's a great sensation."
For some classical peaceful sensations
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listen to Dustin Jones, playing his original composition, "Neskowin" |
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