Salma Hayek Opened Up About Her Near-Fatal COVID-19 Scare
"I'd rather die at home," she told the doctors at one point.
It was a literal matter of life or death, Salma Hayek recalls in her May cover story for Variety. The Eternals actress spoke with the magazine about her near-fatal scare with COVID-19, revealing she spent nearly two months isolated in one room of her house while on oxygen. Now, a year later, she’s finally getting back to work, but her recovery is still a work in progress—a life-altering journey she kept from the public about until now.
My doctor begged me to go to the hospital because it was so bad, Hayek told the outlet. I said, ‘No, thank you. I’d rather die at home.’
Even after spending the seven weeks on bed rest and on oxygen, Hayek said she still doesn’t have the same energy she once attained pre-COVID. The mom and Hollywood star kept pretty tight-lipped about her battle with COVID-19, though she did post a 30-second clip of the many swab tests she had endured to Instagram on November 10th of last year. By this point, many workers in the TV and movie industry were getting back to work, so the idea of an actress getting multiple swab tests didn’t seem too outrageous.
In April, Hayek slowly began easing herself back into work. Her latest project (out of many) titled House of Gucci, includes portraying a soothsayer who is charged for playing a hand in the murder of Maurizio Gucci. The film, which is based on the real-life 1995 murder of Gucci, also stars Lady Gaga and Adam Driver.
“It was easy. It was the perfect job to just get back into it,” she said, adding that the film didn’t take a lot of her time. “I had started doing Zooms at one point, but I could only do so many because I would get so tired.”
It’s been a long road of healing, but she’s back!
