The Mexican Lebanese actress Salma Hayek said on Saturday she misses the days when she had one eyebrow because it would have come in handy for the movie in which she plays the legendary Mexican artist Frida Kahlo, notorious for her thick, connecting eyebrow.
Hayek stars as the title character in "Frida," which tells the story of Kahlo and her stormy love affair with renowned muralist Diego Rivera in the 1930s and 1940s. "My interpretation of her obsession with her eyebrows is that for her it represented freedom," said Hayek, in Toronto.
"But if anything, it made me feel regretful because I used to have one eyebrow and I was stupid enough to go through the pain of plucking them. Of course, now I needed them."
Instead, the 36-year-old actress wore fake eyebrows and shaved her upper lip so that stubble would show and make her look more like the bohemian Kahlo, Reuters reported.
The film was a dream of Hayek's for the past six years because she wanted to make a movie that showed the spirit of Mexico. To get into character, Hayek said she read Kahlo's diary and studied her paintings.
Jennifer Lopez and Madonna were among the actresses interested in portraying Kahlo on film, and while Hayek thanks Madonna for her interest in Kahlo, she said the race to make the film did not really exist.
"I'm really grateful to Madonna because she took interest in this Mexican artist very early on, before there was a lot of interest and people knew about Frida Kahlo," said Hayek.
"And because everybody wants to know what Madonna is doing, I think it brought a lot of attention to this character that later on really helped us get this movie made." (Albawaba.com)
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