COVID-19 was nearly the final act for Salma Hayek.
The Oscar-nominated Frida star has revealed she nearly died from the virus at the beginning of the pandemic.
“My doctor begged me to go to the hospital because it was so bad,” she told Variety. “I said, ‘No, thank you. I’d rather die at home.’”
Hayek, 54, spent seven weeks cloistered in a room in the 17 room London mansion she shares with her husband, Francois-Henri Pinault, and 13-year-old daughter, Valentina. Pinault, is CEO of Kering, a French luxury goods brand.
The Mexican native said she was on oxygen while she battled the deadly illness. She still hasn’t returned to the energy level she had before contracting COVID-19.
“I had started doing Zooms at one point,” the Frida actress said, “but I could only do so many because I would get so tired.”
Fortunately for her, Hayek’s next acting gig involved a shorter shooting schedule. She plays a clairvoyant in House of Gucci, based on the true story of Patrizia Reggiani, who successfully ordered a hit on her ex-husband, fashion scion Maurizio Gucci.
“It was not a lot of time,” Hayek said of the movie scheduled for a November release. “It was easy. It was the perfect job to just get back into it.
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