In that interview, Salma Hayek Pinault explained that she felt that, for far too long, she was typecast. She said she always dreamed of being funny, but merely because of the way she looked, she was too often cast as the romantic interest secondary to the lead. Her first U.S. breakout role probably came in Robert Rodriguez’s “Desperado” in 1995, and the rest of the decade was marked by downbeat indie dramas (“Breaking Up,” “The Velocity of Gary”), wild Hollywood action thrillers (“Fair Game,” “Fled,” “Wild Wild West”), or — in two cases — movies where Pinault played strippers (a demonic one in “From Dusk Till Dawn,” an angelic one in “Dogma”). Pinault noted:
“I was typecast for a long time. […] My entire life I wanted to do comedy and people wouldn’t give me comedies. I couldn’t land a role until I met Adam Sandler, who put me in a comedy, but I was in my 40s! They said, ‘You’re sexy, so you’re not allowed to have a sense of humor.’ […] Not only are you not allowed to be smart, but you were not allowed to be funny in the ’90s.”
By 2010, Pinault had already produced and starred in Julie Taymor’s Frida Kahlo biography “Frida,” appeared in Taymor’s Beatles tribute film “Across the Universe,” and starred in several high-profile Hollywood dramas and kid adventure films, yet comedy was seemingly far off her agent’s radar. After “Grown Ups,” Pinault would also appear in “Here Comes the Boom,” the action comedy “The Hitman’s Bodyguard,” and, of course, “Grown Ups 2.” She also played a comedic villain in “Like a Boss,” lording hilariously over the likes of Tiffany Haddish and Rose Byrne. These were in addition to comedic voice performances in “Puss in Boots” and “Sausage Party.”
