Skip to main content

Daily Inspiration Quote by Salma Hayek

"I also have a film coming up called Breaking Up, and my part in that was not written for a Latina, and my character is not particularly pretty or sexy or exotic"

About this Quote

Hayek’s line lands like a quiet act of defiance against the casting logic that’s shaped Hollywood for decades: Latina actresses are welcome, the industry implies, as long as they arrive pre-packaged as a mood. “Pretty or sexy or exotic” isn’t just a list of adjectives, it’s a résumé of expectations - the narrow corridor where studios have historically placed women like her. By saying the role “was not written for a Latina,” she points to the default setting of most scripts: whiteness as unmarked, everyone else as an add-on that needs justification.

The real bite is in how she refuses to treat this as a compliment. In the star system, being called “exotic” often masquerades as praise while functioning as a cage, turning a person into a travel poster. Hayek pushes back by stressing what the character isn’t, reclaiming the right to be ordinary, messy, even unglamorous on screen. That matters because glamour has been one of the primary ways Hollywood controls women’s narratives; if you’re only cast for desirability, you’re rarely allowed interiority.

There’s also a strategic, industry-savvy subtext: she’s signaling range. Not by begging for seriousness, but by framing miscasting (in the best sense) as progress. The phrase “not written for” underscores how rare it still is for a Latina actor to be considered without the script bending around her ethnicity. Her intent is both personal and political: to normalize presence without performance, and to make “Latina” stop reading as a genre.

Quote Details

TopicMovie
SourceHelp us find the source
Cite

Citation Formats

APA Style (7th ed.)
Hayek, Salma. (2026, January 16). I also have a film coming up called Breaking Up, and my part in that was not written for a Latina, and my character is not particularly pretty or sexy or exotic. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/i-also-have-a-film-coming-up-called-breaking-up-106369/

Chicago Style
Hayek, Salma. "I also have a film coming up called Breaking Up, and my part in that was not written for a Latina, and my character is not particularly pretty or sexy or exotic." FixQuotes. January 16, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/i-also-have-a-film-coming-up-called-breaking-up-106369/.

MLA Style (9th ed.)
"I also have a film coming up called Breaking Up, and my part in that was not written for a Latina, and my character is not particularly pretty or sexy or exotic." FixQuotes, 16 Jan. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/i-also-have-a-film-coming-up-called-breaking-up-106369/. Accessed 5 Feb. 2026.

More Quotes by Salma Add to List
Salma Hayek on race-neutral casting and resisting exoticism
Click to enlarge Portrait | Landscape

About the Author

Salma Hayek

Salma Hayek (born September 2, 1966) is a Actress from Mexico.

33 more quotes available

View Profile

Similar Quotes