Hollywood Hayek

Vanities

'I am very passionate about my work," says SALMA HAYEK right off the bat. "I get crazy because I love my job. I get , butterflies in my stomach from the creative process." She adores her work, O.K.? The Mexican actress's ebullient personality and strong ideas have given her a unique spin on some enviable roles. A frequent collaborator with director Robert Rodriguez, she now co-stars with Antonio Banderas in Desperado, the biggerbudget follow-up to Rodriguez's earlier film El Mariachi. "Since most of the female characters action films are either wimps or screaming or really made of steel," says Hayek, she more realistically made her character "strong but extremely feminine." She's dlso well rounded, dancing with snake in Rodriguez's From Dusk 'Til dawn. But Hayek's snake-free in this month's Fair^ame, in which she's Billy Baldwin's ex-paramour; in fact, she found Baldwin "the most generous actor ve ever worked with." She loves him, she loves the movie, she loves her work.

MICHAEL MUSTO

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