Everyone enjoys receiving gifts, especially on their birthdays, but it is safe to say Salma Hayek’s birthday gift got out of hand when she found a slightly unusual package waiting for her. Who would have imagined that some monkeys would make the ideal gift for the Mexican-American actress?
Yes, we are all aware of how much our favorite stars love leading lavish lifestyles. And some of them do not think twice about giving their other A-List friends, some pretty odd gifts without any hesitation.
Well, there are a lot of such tales in Hollywood, but nothing compares to the exciting story of Salma Hayek’s birthday gift from Antonio Banderas: monkeys!
While the actors were filming Desperado in 1995, the Wild Wild West actress fell in love with two apes that were initially in the film. Thus, Banderas made the decision to buy them for his co-star as a birthday present.
Monkey-Madness On Salma Hayek’s Birthday
Salma Hayek earlier made an appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live! to promote her movie The Prophet and mark the occasion of her 49th birthday. She mentioned receiving two monkeys as a birthday gift from her Desperado co-star Antonio Banderas on the show.
The names of the characters she and Banderas played in the movie, Carolina and Mariachi, respectively, were given to these monkeys by the actress. Hayek told Jimmy Kimmel:
“I had fallen in love with these two monkeys that were supposed to be in the film ‘Desperado’ and then they got cut out. I was spending all my time with them and they were gonna take them away and I was sobbing because they were actually staying with me. I was devastated.”
The actress, now 57, further added:
“The next day was my birthday and Banderas gave me this big box and my monkeys came out of it. He gave me the monkeys… They lived for a long time and very happily. Mariachi was so nice to me. He was kind of in love with me. Carolina was jealous. That witch was awful to me. She was so possessive … So we had a little bit of a [love] triangle.”
When Salma Hayek Was ‘Scared & Crying’ During A Scene With Antonio Banderas
Salma Hayek is one of the most attractive actresses in Hollywood, and she has ruled over millions of fans for the past ten years. The Mexican-American beauty is well-known for her roles in films like Midaq Valley, Frida, and Traffic. However, one film, which also starred Antonio Banderas, absolutely terrified the actress.
More specifically, the actress had once remarked in a conversation that she had been incredibly terrified and scared while filming the s*x scene with her co-star in Desperado. Hayek acknowledged that she was petrified to play the role in an earlier episode of the Armchair Expert podcast. When discussing the entire situation, the actress said:
“One of the things that I was afraid of was Antonio. Because he’s an absolute gentleman, super nice and we are still very close friends, but he was very free.”
She further elaborated on the Desperado s*x scene by saying:
“It was scary because for him it was nothing and that scared me because I’ve never been in front of someone like that. In that situation, I started crying. ‘Oh my God, you’re making me feel terrible.’ I was so embarrassed I was crying. I was not letting go of the towel, and they would try to make me laugh. I started crying again but we got through it.”
The Pirates! actress continued by thanking the cast and crew for their support throughout the shoot:
“They were amazing though, they were amazing. We did the best with what we could do at the time. They were so magnificent, this group of people. He [actor Robert Rodriguez] never put pressure on me.”
Salma Hayek’s last film appearance was in Ridley Scott’s House of Gucci. The film also starred Lady Gaga, Adam Driver, Jared Leto, Jeremy Irons, Al Pacino, and many others.
You can stream House of Gucci and Desperado on Amazon Prime Video.
Source- Jimmy Kimmel Live!
