Oscar-nominated actress Salma Hayek (Frida, Eternals) was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame early Friday evening (November 19).
Joining Hayek as speakers for the ceremony were actor and comedian Adam Sandler (Punch-Drunk Love) and Academy Award-winning director Chloe Zhao (Nomadland). Sandler starred with Hayek in the comedies Grown Ups in 2010 and the sequel Grown Ups 2 in 2013. Hayek was featured in Zhao’s 2021 Marvel movie Eternals, which hit theaters earlier this month.
“I would say to all of you to find something you love because the one thing that I stayed [in the U.S.] for was for the love of cinema,” Hayek said during the ceremony. “If you think you’re not good at it like I did, make yourself good at it. Put your passion into your dreams. We are all made out of stardust. We are all stars.”
Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti also attended the ceremony and called Hayek an “angel in the City of Angels.” Although Garcetti said he doesn’t get the opportunity to attend a lot of Walk of Fame ceremonies, he wanted to make an exception for Hayek because he has known her and her family for so long.
“Salma represents our dreams,” Garcetti said. “She represents our stories – the immigrant experience. When the cameras are off, this is a remarkable human being.”
During the Walk of Fame ceremony, Zhao shared some of the traits that Hayek and her Eternals character share. “Ajax is a leader, a mother and a healer,” she said. “Not only is Salma an incredible actress, [but] she also takes on these roles in real life. Salma is a person of incredible talent, depth, and compassion.”
Sandler then took the stage to honor someone he considers one of his “dearest, high-class, major-player friends.” He called her role in Frida “100 percent unibrowious” and her role in Once Upon a Time in Mexico “caliente, fuerte y mucho good actresso.”
Hayek delivered a punch to Sandler’s shoulder when he said that she knows three languages, “French, Spanish, and English-ish.”
Hayek’s star is the 2,709th on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
