Actor Salma Hayek is used to doing love scenes in movies. But her nude scenes in the film Ask the Dust were particularly grueling because of the conditions she was put in. Fortunately, Hayek had her co-star Colin Farrell to offer support during the uncomfortable take.
Salma Hayek was once really upset about having to do her love scenes in the film ‘Ask the Dust’
Hayek and Farrell once starred in the 2006 feature Ask the Dust. The movie was set in the 1930s, and was a pure romantic drama about a writer who slowly falls for a waitress. The film would include a love scene between the two performers, but the scene in question was less than ideal.
Although the actors got along well enough, the intimacy between them was anything but warm. This was because Farrell and Hayek had to perform in a make-believe ocean with low temperatures.
“It was freezing,” Hayek once told Radio Free. “Freezing, unbearable, cold. And I got a little bit of hypothermia. They were really careful. We had to take special drinks that would keep our body heated. I mean, we had to prepare physically to do the scene because it was so cold.”
The Wild Wild West actor asserted that despite herself and Farrell seeming comfortable in that scene, she was anything but.
“I act comfortable, but I was not. And as a matter of fact, I was really nervous because this is not the one scene that I wanted to do, you know, and it was cold,” she said.
Sensing Hayek’s discomfort, Farrell did his best to cheer up his co-star with humor. But Hayek was too upset to entertain Farrell.
“So at one point, Colin came, started making jokes, and [I said], ‘I’m not in the mood right now! I’m really upset about this!’ I’m barking,” Hayek once recalled.
Colin Farrell made Salma Hayek laugh by stripping naked in the middle of filming
Eventually, Farrell succeeded in calming his co-star down. But he may have gone to extreme lengths to get Hayek to laugh when he stripped down to nothing in front of the cast and crew.
“And out he comes, butt-naked from the trailer, jumping and doing ballet dance. And I started laughing,” Hayek said. “It was the most ridiculous thing. Everybody started laughing. And he did it to relax me, because I was really tense.”
Hayek would also come to appreciate her love scenes with The Batman actor. Farrell showed Hayek a level of respect during their time together she didn’t get from many other co-stars.
“And I have to say that when we were doing the scene, he not once looked down. I sometimes talk to guys that…I am dressed, and they talk to me like this. And Colin, for all his reputation…I was like expecting, ‘What’s he going to do? Is he going to try to get too funny here?’ Never. Never took his eyes off mine,” Hayek said. “Completely supportive.”
Salma Hayek had reservations about working with Colin Farrell
How Farrell turned out to be on the set of Ask the Dust was a complete surprise from Hayek. The Puss in Boots star confided that she was expecting a different kind of actor because of her co-star’s reputation. But Ask the Dust showed Hayek the type of person Farrell truly was.
“I think I had my reservations about Colin as a man, and as an actor, I confess,” Hayek once said according to Black Film. “Number one: have you ever heard of another actor that dedicates a month or month and a half to a movie for free? That alone…[was enough], but to be on time every day with the best disposition, willing to learn, to participate, and he was passionate about the work. Everybody talks about how passionate Colin Farrell is, but nobody mentions how passionate he actually is about the art, about learning, and being there.”
Eventually, working with Farrell became one of Hayek’s favorite parts about doing Ask the Dust.
“He was always participating in the process seriously. Very respectful of the work,” she added.
