Salma Hayek Goes Topless for Sports Illustrated, Star Thought She Was Too ‘Curvy’

Salma Hayek is many things: an Oscar-nominated actress (and the first Mexican woman to receive a nod, for 2002’s Frida, which she also produced), a director, a philanthropist and an activist.

Now, Hayek, 58, is also a Sports Illustrated swimsuit edition cover model. She recently traveled to her home country of Mexico for the sensational photoshoot, captured by photographer Ruven Afanador, in which she was the picture of sun goddess glamour at the Cuixmala luxury resort.

“I’m nearly 60! At this stage, it wouldn’t have crossed my mind. The first thing you get is — what is that word? — imposter syndrome. You have the imposter syndrome immediately,” Hayek said in her cover story published online on Tuesday, May 13, and will hit stands on Saturday, May 17.

Despite looking like a total bombshell in every bikini-clad shot, Hayek told the magazine that she’d considered Sports Illustrated to be out of reach for her. “I used to look at this magazine, and all the models that were in it were so perfect and so beautiful,” she explained in the feature.

Hayek continued, telling journalist Marshall Heyman: “This was the top of the top of the top. It was a landmark for models. It was an iconic space for ultimate beauty, even if it was a magazine that was not about that normally. But each issue was the trailblazer of what is beauty today.”

And it still is: In newly revealed shots, a topless Hayek lounges on a cushion in nothing but a glinting chainlink bottom by Torso Vintages Collection and a Logan Hollowell golden body chain. Or dripping wet in a metallic bronze Alida Herbst halter bikini top and matching cheeky bottom.

She followed these and other photos up with a montage of behind-the-sceenes clips from the shoot with her strutting down the beach, writhing on the sand and posing topless in a swimming pool (save for an Alémais straw sunhat and a Jacquie Aiche turquoise necklace, but of course).

Each angle showcased her flawless figure, but in the article, Hayek said she “doesn’t identify with perfect or beautiful.” Instead, she described herself as “curvy” and “I’m short, too.” (For the record: Hayek is 5’ 1½”.) “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. I was never going to be in that club.” Or so she thought…

On Wednesday, SI Swimsuit’s cover dropped on Instagram, and Hayek wore a glitter-flecked green bikini by Johanna Ortiz in a pool — one of the publication’s trademark backdrops. In true Swimsuit fashion, the summer-ready shoot received over 840,000 likes in just 24 hours.

Hayek also posted a series of photos and videos via her Instagram account. In one caption, which the actress penned in both English and Spanish, she wrote: “Thank you @ruvenafanador and @sportsiillustrated @si_swimsuit for one of the most fun shoots of my life and for granting me my wish for shooting it in my beloved home country Mexico. #siswim2025 #VIVAMEXICO.