Salma Hayek Just Redefined Hot Girl Summer at 58
Salma Hayek never needed a magazine cover to prove she’s a bombshell. But when Sports Illustrated unveiled her as one of the four 2025 Swimsuit Issue cover stars, she still managed to break the internet—and a few beauty standards along the way.
The Salma Hayek Swimsuit Cover Is Giving Confidence, Not Compromise
The photoshoot, captured by photographer Ruven Afanador at the Cuixmala resort in Mexico, shows Hayek in her element. One shot has her draped in metallic bronze, dripping wet in a halter bikini. Another has her posing topless, wearing only a body chain and straw sunhat. According to Sports Illustrated, the actress posed in over 100 swimsuits, many of which needed altering to fit her body. And yet, every frame radiates power.
In an interview with PEOPLE, Hayek admitted she almost backed out. “I said, ‘No,’ because the bathing suits never fit me,” she recalled. “I always suffer.” Still, she powered through, even after her suitcase—with all her customized suits and skincare essentials—got lost. “That’s what I wore,” she said about the limited on-set options. “So you will see, they don’t all fit perfectly. If it’s extra small, it was accidental!”
Salma Hayek and the Imposter Syndrome That Almost Stopped It All
Hayek’s reaction to the shoot wasn’t just about lost luggage. It was about decades of internalized doubt. “I had a very bad case of imposter syndrome,” she said on the TODAY show. “It never crossed my mind that I could be on that cover, because they didn’t look like me. My body’s not necessarily the model type.”
She continued, “I remember when I was young and hot, I used to look at this magazine. I wanted to see who was the new gorgeous model, the new girl of the moment. And for it to happen when I’m 58? It’s really shocking.”
From Whale Sightings to Bad Bunny: Salma Hayek’s Mexico Shoot Was Pure Magic
Something shifted once she stepped onto the beach. A literal whale jumped behind her. “I felt, ‘This is magical. This is my land. I’m 58, I’m doing this,” she told PEOPLE. Then she put on Bad Bunny and started dancing. “I loved it,” she said.
Hayek told USA Today, “If somebody had told me I was gonna be in it at 58, I would have sent them to the madhouse, but the world has changed, and that’s exciting.”
Why Salma Hayek’s SI Moment Is Bigger Than a Bikini
The Swimsuit Issue has been shifting toward more inclusive beauty standards in recent years. Martha Stewart appeared on the cover in 2023 at age 81, and model Maye Musk was featured in 2022 at 74. Still, Hayek’s inclusion—short, curvy, Mexican, and 58—feels radical in all the right ways.
As she told Glamour, “It was impossible for me to meet the standards of beauty of the ’90s—skinny and tall. No matter how skinny I was going to get, I was always going to be curvy. I can’t stretch my legs! It is what it is.”
She added, “I went from absolute anxiety and panic to absolute peace and freedom. From absolutely insecure to being proud of the woman I am.”
