by Ilich Mejía
;)
The New York Times published an op-ed by Salma Hayek where she discloses how working with Harvey Weinstein, then head of Miramax, affected the production of her passion project Frida. The film, centered around the life of Mexican painter Frida Kahlo, was released in 2002 with Hayek portraying the titular character. In the article, Hayek relates her refusals to Weinstein's inappropriate proposals (massages, showers, sex) to his explicit sabotaging of the film and its release. Up next, we contextualize five of Hayek's most poignant tellings of how Weinstein's ruthless power machine compromised the making of a promising film.
“[Weinstein] also demanded a signed deal for me to do several other films with Miramax, which I thought would cement my status as a leading lady.” Before Frida, Hayek acted in four Miramax films: Roadracers (a made-for-television movie for Showtime), From Dusk Till Dawn (co-starring Quentin Tarantino and George Clooney), 54 (about the infamous discoteque), and The Faculty (her last before Frida). After Frida’s release, she appeared in two films under the Miramax-owned distribution company Dimension Films: Once Upon a Time in Mexico and Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over. Both were released in 2003, nearly one year after Frida. Robert Rodríguez directed every one of these six films except 54. In her op-ed, Hayek cites her friendship with Tarantino, Clooney, and Rodríguez as a likely shield that kept Weinstein from escalating his sexual assaults against her.
“Once before, Julie Taymor got him to settle for a tango ending in a kiss instead of the lovemaking scene he wanted us to shoot between the character Tina Modotti, played by Ashley Judd, and Frida.” Ashley Judd, who heroically began an earth quaking movement by calling out Harvey Weinstein for sexual harassment while she filmed 1997’s Kiss The Girls, agreed to do Frida as a favor to Hayek. This means Judd agreed to work for her harasser to support her friend as she went through an equally horrifying experience.
“When he was finally convinced that I was not going to earn the movie the way he had expected, he told me he had offered my role and my script with my years of research to another actress.” Before Hayek was attached to star and produce, Madonna and Jennifer López had both expressed interest in starring in a film about the Mexican painter's life. Both were met with criticism because of their respective American and Puerto Rican descent. López persevered and was briefly attached to star in a Frida-centric film entitled The Two Fridas directed by Luis Valdéz, replacing Italian American Laura San Giacomo of Just Shoot Me! fame. After facing casting difficulties and the threat of competition, Two Fridas halted production.
“Much to everyone’s amazement, not least my own, I delivered, thanks to a phalanx of angels who came to my rescue, including Edward Norton, who beautifully rewrote the script several times and appallingly never got credit.” Frida credits its script to five writers: Hayden Herrera (writer of the book the script is based on, Frida: A Biography of Frida Kahlo), Clancy Sigal, Diane Lake, Gregory Nava, and Anna Thomas. Despite his efforts, Norton, who dated Hayek for five years and had a small role in the film, was only credited with a “very special thanks”. Disturbingly, Harvey and Bob Weinstein were awarded the same credit.
“…this film that Harvey never wanted to do, gave him a box office success that no one could have predicted, and despite his lack of support, added six Academy Award nominations to his collection, including best actress.” After an October release in 2002, Frida was nominated for six Academy Awards in 2003: Best Actress in a Leading Role, Best Costume Design, Best Set Decoration, Best Original Song, Best Original Score, and Best Makeup. The last two won their respective categories. That same season, in addition to Frida, Miramax campaigned for Gangs of New York, Chicago, City of God, and The Hours. Following Chicago (Miramax’s best performer—made about seven times its $45 million budget), Frida performed the best in comparison to its budget out of these films, making close to five times its original budget in the box office. Similarly, only Chicago took home more Oscars than Frida. The film had the smallest budget out of any Miramax in contention that year. The Hours, the next smallest, had a budget greater than twice Frida’s.
A flock of celebrities, including Reese Witherspoon and Antonio Banderas, have celebrated Hayek's courage in sharing her story. Weinstein has since commented on Hayek’s piece. For obvious reasons, we won’t be acknowledging the content of his statement.