HOW SALMA HAYEK IS REDEFIMNG PHILANTHROPY

In the worlds of Hollywood, fashion and activism, there's never been anyone quite like Salma.

- Ellen Gamerman

In the course of one conversation, Salma Hayek Pinault mourns the death of her pet rescue owl, reveals that she never signed a prenup in her marriage to French billionaire Francois-Henri Pinault and bemoans the obnoxiousness of certain wealthy people who assume they're interesting just because they're rich.

But ask about her typical day, and she has no words.

"Nothing in my life is typical," she says, her smoky voice filling the low-ceilinged room in a London pub, where she shows up on an overcast Monday afternoon awash in head-to-toe Gucci and perfume drawn from ingredients that include Mexican tuberose and queen of the night, an opulent cactus with flowers that each bloom just once a year in the dark.

The Mexican-born actress, 58, famous for her curves and sultry accent, took the objectification of Salma Hayek and bent it to her will: She used her Hollywood clout to create roles for Latina women that defy ethnic stereotypes and channeled her influence into a decadeslong fight against domestic violence. She defied the odds to become one of a tiny handful of Latina leading ladies in the 1990s, and then, while working to preserve that status, developed parallel careers as a producer and a philanthropist.

"I'm talking with my mouth full," she says after dipping some crust from a sourdough boule into melted rosemary and garlic Camembert, on-brand for a person who professes no strict fitness regimen. "Emotional intelligence," she's saying of the forces that drive her. "Human, real connection."

She's got a high-drama aura but she's also pragmatic, a trait visible in her charity work. "I'm passionate," she says, "but I'm a strategist."