Salma Hayek: "I don't have a good body"

Wonderwall, Wednesday, October 21, 2009, 4:36pm (PDT)

By Michelle Lanz

After taking time off to be a mom to daughter Valentina for a while, sexy Salma Hayek is back on the big screen.

In her new film "Cirque Du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant" (yes, yet another vampire movie), Salma plays a circus freak and dons a realistic full beard over her stunningly perfect jawline. Almost shocking, but we do seem to recall a past foray into facial hair for the film "Frida."

In a recent interview with Parade.com, the actress and "Ugly Betty" executive producer talks about her imperfect body, playing a bearded lady, and who among us are the real freaks.

On her "best body":

"I won a 'Best Body Award' from Fitness Magazine and I was too embarrassed to accept it. I actually don't have a good body, but if everybody thinks so, I guess it means I'm a good actress. I have acted the part of the girl who has a very good body. If you know how to dress, there's some tricks you can pull."

On the definition of "ugly":

"I don't think Betty [of 'Ugly Betty'] is really ugly, but what do we call ugly now? It's anybody that is not super-skinny and really tall. Some people think they're ugly just because they don't reach that standard. I personally have seen a lot of really skinny tall models that maybe I think are ugly and they need to eat a little to look healthy. So I think we're having a little fun with the concept of ugly on the show and people get a kick out of it."

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On playing a bearded lady:

"I haven't had this much facial hair since I had those fuzzy eyebrows in "Frida." Everybody said, ‘Oh, my God. You look so hot with the beard.' It's like when people tell you, 'You look gorgeous,' when you are pregnant. You are like a swollen whale and never looked worse in your life. And somebody goes, ‘You're glowing.' They don't have the courage to tell you how bad you look."

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On how her baby daughter felt about Mommy's beard:

"Valentina saw me with the beard and seemed to understand it was only makeup. She was seven months old and she was not freaking out. I let her watch me when they put it on, which took hours and she was fascinated. And, she knew not to touch it. I kept my daughter with me the whole time we were filming because otherwise I don't see her the whole day. She's an amazing child. At nine months old she was already walking and talking."

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On who the real freaks are:

"I think what's freaky is those guys with the cameras who are so desperate and so excited because they're seeing you walk into a supermarket and they want to get a picture. I think that's freaky. They're the freaks. I'm not a freak but, I'm being attacked by the freaks sometimes. That's the strange part."

On vampire hysteria:

"I don't have a fascination with vampires, but my character is madly in love with one played by John C. Reilly. All she wants is for this guy to love her for who she is and settle down. Isn't that what most women want? Actually, I found the freaks a lot more interesting than the vampires. We had everything from snake boy to wolfman. I would have been any one of them even though I ended up as the bearded lady."

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