Salma Hayek turns 60 and her best chapter may be starting

Salma Hayek has officially entered her 60s, and the milestone arrives at a moment when the Mexican actress, producer, and longtime Hollywood powerhouse appears determined to keep moving forward.

Hayek celebrated her 60th birthday on September 2, 2026. Born in Coatzacoalcos, Veracruz, Mexico, on September 2, 1966, the actress has spent nearly four decades building a career that took her from Mexican television to Hollywood, an Academy Award nomination, and a place among the industry’s most recognizable Latina stars.

And one of her oldest Hollywood friends made sure the milestone did not pass without a public celebration.

Antonio Banderas Celebrates Salma Hayek’s 60th Birthday

Antonio Banderas, who starred opposite Hayek in the 1995 action film Desperado, marked her 60th birthday with a personal message on social media. “Dear friend @salmahayek I wish you a wonderful birthday and send you a big hug from Málaga, Spain. Happy birthday,” Banderas wrote alongside a photo of the longtime friends.

It was an especially fitting tribute considering how closely Banderas is connected to one of the defining moments of Hayek’s career. The pair starred together in Desperado, the Robert Rodriguez film that helped establish Hayek in Hollywood. They later reunited for projects including Once Upon a Time in Mexico and the Puss in Boots franchise. Their friendship has lasted for decades.

Hayek previously described Banderas as her “good luck charm” while discussing their friendship and working relationship. She credited him with helping give her a start and noted how meaningful it was that they had maintained their friendship despite demanding careers that frequently took them around the world.

Salma Hayek Has Been Looking Forward to Turning 60

For Hayek, 60 isn’t necessarily an age to fight. In fact, comments she made before reaching the milestone suggest the opposite.

Speaking about beauty and aging in 2025, Hayek explained that her goal wasn’t to look decades younger. “I’m more excited about being 50 and 60 and looking good at 50 and 60,” she said, adding, “It’s a different kind of beauty.”

That philosophy has increasingly become part of Hayek’s public image. Rather than hiding signs of aging, she has shared swimsuit photos, gray hair and makeup-free moments with her millions of followers while continuing to appear on major red carpets and fashion campaigns.

Her Sports Illustrated Cover Changed the Conversation

One of the clearest examples came just before her 60th birthday. At 58, Hayek appeared on the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit cover, something she admitted she never imagined happening when she was younger. “I remember when I was young, a long, long time ago, I was always excited to see the Swimsuit Issue of Sports Illustrated,” Hayek said.

But she didn’t believe someone with her body type would ever be considered. “If somebody had told me I was gonna be in it at 58, I would have sent them to the madhouse,” she joked. “But the world has changed, and that’s exciting.”

For Hayek, the significance went beyond landing a glamorous magazine cover. She said she appreciated reaching a point where women over 50 could still feel sexy and comfortable with their bodies instead of feeling pressured to hide them.

Salma Hayek’s Birthday Posts Have Become a Tradition

Hayek has also developed something of a birthday tradition on Instagram. For her 58th birthday in 2024, she shared 18 swimsuit photos from a yacht and made one thing very clear to followers: “P.S. none of these are throwbacks.”

A year later, she celebrated turning 59 in a red bikini aboard a yacht while raising a drink against an ocean sunset. “59 trips around the sun and still dancing,” she wrote. “Cheers to all of you & thank you for the love.”

Anthony Hopkins was among the famous friends wishing her well that year, writing, “Happy birthday ♥️ We love you.”

From Mexican Telenovelas to Hollywood History

The milestone also invites a look at just how unlikely Hayek’s Hollywood story once seemed.

She became a star in Mexico through the telenovela Teresa before moving to Los Angeles in 1991, leaving behind an established career to pursue Hollywood.

Hayek once recalled arriving in Hollywood without fluent English or even a clear understanding of how the industry’s representation system worked. “I didn’t speak English, I didn’t have a green card, I didn’t know I had to have an agent, I couldn’t drive, I was dyslexic,” she said while looking back at that period.

Then came Desperado. The 1995 movie opposite Banderas helped introduce Hayek to a much larger American audience. Roles in From Dusk Till Dawn, Fools Rush In, Wild Wild West and other films followed.

But Hayek wanted more control over the stories she was telling. She founded her production company, Ventanarosa, and eventually produced and starred in Frida, the 2002 biopic about Mexican artist Frida Kahlo. The performance earned Hayek an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress, making her the first Mexican woman nominated in that category.

The achievement became one of the defining moments of her career.

Gabriel García Márquez reportedly gave Hayek a piece of encouragement during the long journey to bring Frida to the screen: “Lo más difícil es empezar y tú ya has empezado,” or, “The hardest thing is to begin, and you’ve already begun.”

More than two decades later, that advice feels particularly relevant.

Happy birthday, Salma!