Hayek 'used' Hollywood

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Salma Hayek: I 'used' Hollywood

Salma Hayek says she "used" Hollywood as much as it used her in her first few film roles.

The 'Everly' star insists she exploited the film industry too as she was happy to play the "maid or the sexy girl" so she could "change" Hollywood's way of thinking.

Speaking at the Kering Women in Motion panel at the Cannes Film Festival, she said: "I think we used each other. They used me? No. They used me, but I said, 'OK, OK, let's go!' It was the maid or the sexy girl. That's as much as I can say. It's a process: you [filmmakers] are using me for that, but I'm going to use it to change your own way of thinking. And you won't even notice."

Meanwhile, the 49-year-old actress - who has eight-year-old daughter Valentina with her husband François-Henri Pinault - previously revealed she wants to encourage girls to feel "unique."

She shared: "I think the most important thing to tell for the new generations is to have the courage to be unique, to be curious about who they are, instead of trying to blend in.

"The most important thing to say to the girls is to not try to be like the other girls. Not to try to fit in, but to try to really be profound thinkers that are excited about their differences and explore what they are and who they are and what can come out of the new.

"I think the voice of women can change the world, but we don't know our voice. We've never really investigated. We've been too busy for many, many decades and generations, trying to operate within systems that were designed by men. I don't think we really have tapped into our potential or our own creativity."