Whenever I mention Desperado by Robert Rodriguez, the only reaction I receive are weird looks. After all, not many know about this 90s action movie. But back in the day, Desperado minted some good money for the studio producing it. It made a respectable $25 million on a small budget of just $7 million. The movie starred Antonio Banderas, who replaced actor Carlos Gallardo for the lead role. But most notably, this was Salma Hayek’s first Hollywood movie.
This small movie was actually quite instrumental in building up Hayek and Banderas’s careers over the years as well. After all, apart from making money at the box office, it also received good critical reviews as well. However, Hayek doesn’t have only fond memories of the movie. In fact, she says that her lovemaking scene opposite Banderas was pretty traumatic to her.
Salma Hayek Was Traumatized By The Nude Lovemaking Scenes
Recently, Hayek spoke in an interview about her experiences on the set of Desperado. She said that filming the love scenes in the movie was traumatic for her. But she didn’t blame or held the director or Banderas responsible for it.
She said in the interview that when they were beginning to film, she started to cry. In fact in the beginning she was afraid of Banderas since he was really free about the entire thing. However, Hayek is quick to say in the interview that they are close friends and that Antonio is an absolute gentleman. In fact, when she started crying, Banderas felt terrible about it.
However, in the end, Hayek says that she was somehow able to do the scene with whatever they had at the time. But she further says that, once she did the scene, she was afraid of showing it to her family:
“I keep thinking of my father and my brother. And are they going to see it? And are they going to get teased? Guys don’t have that. Your father will be, ‘Yeah! That’s my son!’.”
However, Salma found a way to avoid that embarrassment. She walked out of the theatre and also took her family with her. Then once the scene was over, they all went back and finished the movie.
Thankfully Her Experiences Are (Mostly) A Thing Of The Past Now
Hayek said in the interview that she was uncomfortable regarding the lovemaking scene as a result of her nerves and inexperience. Nowadays this wouldn’t be allowed on sets. Thanks to the #MeToo movement, more emphasis is being placed on ensuring that the actors are comfortable in the scene.
This is mainly the job of an intimacy coordinator. But back in the day, as you can imagine, such things would probably be laughed at. Moreover, having an intimacy coordinator in a B-level movie like Desperado would be impossible.
In the end, Salma again says that she wasn’t pressurized by Banderas or Rodriguez and that the three of them are still friends to this day. Well… that’s good to know at least.
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