Antonio Banderas has been a consistent performer in Hollywood with many successful films early in his career. He gained prominence with films such as Interview with the Vampire, The Mask of Zorro, Spy Kids, and Shrek 2. He also became well known as Manito from Robert Rodriguez’s 1995 Western Desperado, actress Salam Hayek’s breakout film.
Both Banderas and Hayek remained good friends and they worked together in other films such as Once Upon a Time in Mexico, Frida, and the two Puss in Boots films. While promoting the first Puss in Boots film, they started to hate each other for a very particular reason.
Antonio Banderas and Salma Hayek Despised Each Other Due to Exhausting Promotions
Antonio Banderas and Salma Hayek starred in the 2011 Shrek spinoff film Puss in Boots. Both actors went on an extensive promotional tour in many countries. Additionally, they were interviewed by various media outlets asking them the same questions and had to repeat their answers. This constant and cumbersome routine left them terribly tired.
Banderas claimed that both he and Hayek started despising each other and felt like killing the other person due to this cumbersome routine. He said, (via News.com.au)
“We traveled to nine countries, nine premieres, three different continents… It was fun and difficult too. It’s just weird when you’re doing interviews. Basically, they ask you the same question again and again… and you answer the same thing… and when you’re doing pair interviews – because Salma and I we were just doing interviews all the time together.
By the time that we were in Rome, we started kind of hating each other. By the time we were in Sydney, we wanted to kill each other – because we knew exactly what the other [person] was going to answer. We were just so tired.”
It must be an exhausting effort for actors to constantly give interviews to different people who ask the same questions. They need to have patience and endurance to go through them and they also sometimes find creative ways to insert humor and entertainment to let go of their exhaustion.
Salma Hayek is Proud of Her Decades-Long Friendship With Antonio Banderas
Salma Hayek had her breakout role in 1995’s Desperado where she starred alongside Antonio Banderas. Since then, the two movie stars have remained close friends and have also worked together in numerous other films. They have been friends for more than 20 years.
Hayek commented on their decades-long friendship in an appearance on Today with Banderas. She called him her lucky charm and expressed how proud she was of him. She said,
“Oh my God, it means so much to me. Number one, I’m very proud of him. You have to go through living all over the place because Antonio not only has never stopped working — never, ever, ever — but also moves around, and to stay friends like that for so long is great. And when he comes to work, he’s my good-luck charm. He gave me my start.”
Banderas and Hayek reunited as actors, reprising their vocal roles as Puss in Boots and Kitty Softpaws in 2022’s Puss in Boots: The Last Wish. They’re still great friends and continue to speak about each other with immense respect and love.
