Tag Archives: celebrity profile

Salma Hayek cover story for Glam Belleza Latina

Posted in Beauty, Celebrity Interviews by

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Check out an excerpt of my new cover story on Salma for Glam Belleza Latina, the new magazine from the publishers of Glamour dedicated to Latinas and their passion for all things beauty. I first met her in LA when I interviewed her for the cover of Latina in 2011. I swear the woman just gets more beautiful with every passing year…

When we grow up, we want to be Salma Hayek Pinault. There, we’ve said it. At 46 she is stunning in a way that is both extra-ordinary and real. We could picture her kicking back at our family reunion as easily as she graces the red carpet.

But what really makes Hayek Pinault such a role model is her beautiful mind. She has the gravitas to take on an icon like Frida Kahlo, the edge to play a twisted (but ravishing) villain opposite Blake Lively in last year’s Savages, and the comedic chops to hang with the likes of Adam Sandler and Chris Rock in Grown Ups 2 (opening July 12). Then there are her businesses: the production company Ventanarosa and a cosmetics company, Nuance, inspired by her grandmother’s homemade beauty treatments.

When Glam Belleza Latina caught up with the star in Paris, she encouraged us to both push for our dreams and cut ourselves some slack. “We’ve got to fight for our confidence every day in modern life because we live in a society that is very harsh to women,” says Hayek Pinault. “You have to be smart and successful and a good mother and beautiful and young and skinny forever. It’s a lot of pressure. So I think we have to take a deep breath and just enjoy ourselves and say, ‘I’m going to be the best that I can be, and that’s more than enough.’ ”

But one doesn’t get to be as fabulous as Hayek Pinault by taking it easy, right? The actress reminds us that none of her biggest accomplishments, personally or professionally, came easy. It took almost 10 years for her to get Frida, the film that earned her her first Oscar nomination, produced—and another 10 years to launch her cosmetics line. “Patience is a wonderful skill,” says Hayek Pinault. “It teaches you to enjoy the process and not just the result of things.” Before she dashes off to pick up her daughter, Valentina, from school, she shares one more piece of advice: “Success is just happiness. If you’ve found the right companion for life, a good relationship with loved ones, if you are healthy—my God, you are immensely successful.” Read on for an illustrated history of Hayek Pinault’s extraordinary, inspiring, successful life.

To read the rest of this story, visit GlamLatina.com, where it was originally published.

William Levy cover story for Latina Magazine

Posted in Celebrity Interviews, TV by

Latina flew yours truly down to MIA to interview William Levy for the June/July Issue, tied to his new telenovela on Univision, La Tempestad.

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Check out an excerpt on Latina.com, plus there’s a behind-the-cover-shoot video for you to enjoy, too…

2012 was Miguel’s year & 2013 will be even bigger

Posted in Celebrity Interviews, Music by

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If you’re a music journalist and you’ve written about R&B dynamo Miguel in 2012, chances are you’ve put the 27-year-old and Prince in the same sentence, as I have. And that’s cool, says Miguel. Just don’t get used to it.

“I’m offended for Prince because I’m such a huge fan of his and you can’t compare anyone to Prince,” says Miguel. “But if I’m associated with any ounce of greatness then that’s a huge compliment – and that’s what I think of when I think of Prince; I think of greatness, I think of timelessness, creativity, longevity, just unapologetic and unwavering sense of self. I can only hope to remind people of greatness.”

There’s no doubt that 2012 was Miguel’s breakout year. True, he had shown promise on his 2010 debut album All I Want Is You, but it was this year’s follow-up, Kaleidoscope Dream, that earned high praise from critics and fans alike, who unanimously seemed to agree that Miguel was part of an exciting crop of artists intent on saving a dying genre. “[Frank Ocean’s] Channel Orange, [Miguel’s] Kaleidoscope Dream, and [The Weeknd’s] Trilogy rescued the art form from the monotony of ‘baby, baby please’ as Ocean, Miguel and Weeknd casually re-created it in their own images,” wrote Rebecca Thomas at MTV.

In many ways, that monotony Thomas writes of began when the self-proclaimed Pied Piper of R&B himself, R. Kelly, committed career suicide circa 2002. The game was just never the same – until now. As music journalist Erik Parker puts it, “Miguel’s music came at a time when there was a wide open lane. He split the difference between Trey Songz’ sex appeal and Frank Ocean’s exotic and left-field style. He’s pushing the boundaries in an artistic way that is not too much in the clouds. He’s stretching R&B but it doesn’t feel forced or too self-aware.”

With five Grammy nominations, including Song of the Year and Best R&B Performance for “Adorn,” and Best Urban Contemporary Vocal Album and a spring tour with Alicia Keys coming up, 2013 is looking even better for Miguel.

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The subtle genius of Aubrey Plaza

Posted in Celebrity Interviews, Movies by

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In comedy, as in any other genre, game recognizes game. So Aubrey Plaza, otherwise known as April, Amy Poehler’s snarky college intern on NBC’s mockumentary-style show Parks and Recreation, is the kind of funny that my favorite comedians — people like Conan or Chelsea — give props to.

It’s called subtlety. And it’s not exactly something Latinos are known to do on the big or small screen. Blame George Lopez– anyone who relies on muecas to elicit chuckles is going to run out of jokes eventually.

It’s like Marlon Brando once said: “We only have so many faces in our pockets.”

But as Darius, Plaza’s first major film role in this summer’s Safety Not Guaranteed, the 27-year-old, half-Puerto Rican, half-Irish actress isn’t so much funny as she is a disaffected, deeply insecure, socially awkward live-at-home college grad who has never fully dealt with the one big tragedy in her life: the death of her mother.

She’s not exactly someone you love at first sight, but there’s a transformation that happens here, and eventually, Darius becomes endearing, relatable, and most important, memorable.

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