Salma Hayek Made A Rare Red Carpet Appearance With Her 16-Year-Old Daughter Valentina

Oct 20, 2021 by apost team

Salma Hayek hit the red carpet in Los Angeles on Monday for the “Eternals” premiere, the newest film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The movie, directed by award-winning filmmaker Chloé Zhao, features a star-studded cast that is sure to attract droves of fans. Angelina Jolie, Kumail Nanjiani, Kit Harrington, Richard Madden and Gemma Chan are just a few of the film’s biggest stars who star alongside Hayek in the much-anticipated superhero film. 

Jolie, 46, made an appearance with kids Maddox, Vivienne, Zahara, Shiloh and Knox in tow, making for a few adorable photos of the family.

But if anyone stole the show, it would have to be Hayek, 55, and her fashionable daughter Valentina Pinault. The 16-year-old made the rare red carpet appearance wearing a chic black and white polka dot mini dress from Saint Laurent, accessorized with a shimmering black clutch bag. The young fashionista finished the look with a pair of tights and black boots. Hayek also went with a black dress, except hers was accented with gold, which complemented her shimmering boots and gold-accented clutch. The mother-daughter duo rarely appears together on the red carpet, so their appearance at “Eternals” was a pleasant surprise for fans of the actress and her daughter.

The film focuses on the Eternals, an immortal alien race who are tasked with protecting the earth and its inhabitants from the Deviants. For those who have watched other films in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, “Eternals” takes place after “Avengers: Endgame.” Zhao, the film’s director, recently received critical acclaim for “Nomadland,” which won Best Picture at the 2021 Academy Awards.

Although Hayek is fairly private when it comes to her private life and her relationship with Valentina, whom she had with French billionaire François-Henri Pinault, she recently took to social media to wish the teen a happy birthday. 

“My precious girl, you are everything to me. Blessed be the day you came into my life to shine your radiant light Happy Birthday 🎂🎈 Valentina!!!!! Thank you for being YOU,” Hayek wrote alongside a photo of the two together.

Entertainment Tonight caught up with the mother-daughter duo at the “Eternals” premiere. Hayek told ET that it was the first time she and her daughter had been at a red carpet premiere since she was a little girl.

Valentina then told ET that her mom was “cool” for playing a superhero.

"She's cool, she's cool," Valentina told ET.

Initially, Hayek was reluctant to star in the film, as she reveals in an interview with Entertainment Weekly.

"I said, 'Forget it,'" she told Entertainment Weekly, laughing. "I said, 'God knows what kind of grandmother they want me to play.' I'm used to being (told) I'm going to be the extra or the old prostitute. And then they said the director was Chloé Zhao, and I said, 'Okay! Let's have the meeting!'"

But Hayek isn’t playing some throwaway character — she’s the Eternals’ leader, Ajak, in the film. Each of the Eternals, who can all live forever, has a special ability. Hayek’s character is the healer of the group, while Jolie, who plays Thena, has super strength and abilities.

Jolie said that Zhao, who is known more for quiet, arthouse films, encouraged the actors to find themselves in their characters.

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"I don't think we realized that until we really got there," Jolie told Entertainment Weekly. "It really felt like she was pulling out of us something that was more personal, from a deeper side of ourselves. She wasn't looking to put something on top of us, like a character. She was looking for us to reveal ourselves as the character."

If you hadn’t heard of the Eternals until now, don’t feel bad. They aren’t exactly the most popular characters in Marvel’s universe even if Jack Kirby, the artist who came up with the heroes, is a legend in the comics community. 

According to Entertainment Weekly, Kirby invented the Eternals back in the 1970s after he returned to Marvel from DC Comics. The story is that the Celestials, a group of god-like aliens, created the Eternals millions of years ago. A group of these Eternals was sent to earth to protect the planet from the evil Deviants.

"It's a little bit like being on a road trip with nine of your closest friends for 7,000 years," producer Nate Moore told Entertainment Weekly. "In development, we joked that it's like if Tony Stark and Steve Rogers lived together for that long. That friendship will turn into frenemies, and then turn into enemies, and then come back to friendship because you have that common bond. It's like a family."

The massive ensemble cast of “Eternals” includes Richard Madden, Hayek, Jolie, Don Lee, Lauren Ridloff, Kumail Nanjiani, Lia McHugh, Brian Tyree Henry and Gemma Chan.

“Eternals” will hit theaters on Nov. 5.

Are you excited about “Eternals”? What do you think of Hayek and her daughter’s red carpet appearance? Let us know — and be sure to pass this story on.