Samuel L. Jackson Once Joked That Salma Hayek Was Too Beautiful to Touch

Samuel L. Jackson collaborated with Ryan Reynolds and Salma Hayek for the 2017 hit The Hitman’s Bodyguard. Although it was the first time Jackson worked with Hayek, he was actually very familiar with the star beforehand.

How Samuel L. Jackson reacted when Salma Hayek was cast in ‘The Hitman’s Bodyguard’

Jackson saw himself acting alongside Reynolds and Hayek for the first time in the action thriller. As the film’s title implies, Reynolds played a bodyguard assigned to protect the notorious assassin portrayed by the Pulp Fiction star. Reynolds was already attached to the project by the time Jackson came on board, who was sold by the movie’s humor.

“At first it was me and Ryan, and I was like, ‘alright, let me read it’. And I read it, and it’s like, ‘oh, this is kind of funny’. Kind of great,” Jackson once told Den of Geek.

But what really surprised Jackson was that he’d be married to Hayek in the feature. Although his screentime with his co-star would be limited.

“And then all of a sudden when they said ‘And you’ll be married to Salma’, I was like, ‘Oh, wow! Great!’ But they never told me, ‘Oh but you’re not gonna see her’. And then all of a sudden that other scene was in there where we met, and I was like ‘okay this is great’. At least I get to see her, for a while,” he said.

The two never collaborated before, but Jackson revealed that they ran into each other plenty of times in the past. He quipped that he was more than struck by Hayek’s looks.

“I see her, I just see her at awards shows backstage. And I was like everybody else, you know, you always look at her and she’s like too beautiful to touch. You know. It’s like, I’m gonna damage her if I touch her,” he said.

Salma Hayek’s role in ‘The Hitman’s Bodyguard’ was originally meant for an Irish actor

In the movie’s early stages, Jackson’s onscreen wife looked very different on paper. Hayek’s character kept most of the personality she had in the original script, which initially intimidated her.

“She is quite a force of nature. It’s a very, very unique character. I read it and thought, ‘How am I going to do this?!’ I was convinced by the producer, who has worked with me before, and Ryan, who’s a very good friend because I’m still very close to [his wife] Blake, and the director that I could do it,” Hayek once told Collider.

But the appearance of the character changed significantly after the Frida star took on the role.

“It was so different when I read it,” Hayek continued. “It was a crazy Irish woman, and they said, ‘We know you can make it into a Spanish woman and go to town with it.’ So, I started working with the director on how I would translate that, with an explosive temperament and what kind of things she would say. It was so much fun doing that. I was nervous, at the beginning, because she was Irish and I didn’t know if they wanted to change that. But they said, ‘Yes, you are perfect. You can do this.’ I had a good support team that pushed me to the limit, and now I’m so excited. I am the wife of Sam Jackson, and we’re both insane.”

Salma Hayek was shocked she was asked to return for ‘Hitman’s Bodyguard’ sequel

Hayek would find herself reteaming with her co-stars in the movie’s sequel Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard. This time she’d be given a considerably bigger role than she had in the first film. But Hayek originally couldn’t believe her character left enough of an impression to headline a second movie.

“I was shocked,” Hayek said to Variety. “I’ve been in many movies where we get the call: ‘Oh, my God, you’re one of the most liked characters in the film.’ So many times. But for the first time, there was a director that said, ‘I’m gonna listen to the audience.’ But I didn’t trust him. At the beginning, I said, ‘Oh, he’s just exaggerating. He’s just being nice.’ But then when we started talking about it, he told me the storyline, and then I realized, ‘Oh, my God, this guy is not only for real, but he also wants me involved in the process. Then I said, “Let’s make it really interesting and talk about menopause in a funny way.’ Imagine if you have a character that’s already crazy and then add those hormones.”