Salma Hayekhas made a fortune by playing ladies who have almost no fear, so it seems impossible that she would have any fears in real life. The Academy Award-nominated actress had to confront her biggest phobia while filming Robert Rodriguez’s “From Dusk Till Dawn,” but we all have our own. A failed bank heist leads two brothers (played by Quentin Tarantino and George Clooney, respectively) to cross the border into Mexico in the 1996 movie. By hiding out in a topless club, they are able to avoid the police, but they soon learn that it is really only a front for a cult of satanic vampires.
It wasn’t difficult for Hayek to land the role of Santanico Pandemonium, a vampire-stripper at the bar, as she had already collaborated with Rodriguez on two films as Carolina in “Desperado” the year prior and in the 1994 anthology film “Four Rooms.” After viewing her performance in “Four Rooms,” the actress told Yahoo News that Tarantino even crafted the character specifically for her.
Once the die was cast, everything appeared to be on track. However, Hayek’s fear of snakes almost cost her the part when she discovered that she would be dancing while wearing a Burmese python around her neck.
Why did it have to be snakes?
Hayek claims that there was not even a single reference of a snake in the script. According to the actress, the choice was made the day of the session. Hayek remembered, “Quentin informed me, ‘Oh, by the way, you’re dancing with a snake. “I reacted by saying, “I can’t do that. My biggest worry is it.”
Up until she realised another actress might easily take her place, Hayek was adamant in her position. According to Tarantino, Madonna was open to the idea of portraying Santanico and had no reservations about dancing with a snake. Whether it was real or not, Hayek claims his strategy was successful. She was forced to confront her fear and admit, “Honestly, I really needed to pay the rent.”
It required a lot of mental fortitude for her to go through her phobia. Prior to the shoot, Hayek recalled having to “brainwash” herself. I began my research, she claimed. “The snake may have represented your inner strength in various cultures. And my entire strategy, which I fooled myself into following, involved dancing with my inner force.”
Ironically, Hayek rarely remembers filming the scene at all, despite the fact that her dance is one of her most recognisable moments from her filmography. That strategy obviously succeeded. She said to Yahoo, “I had to slip into a trance to do the dance. “No choreography was present either. It was spontaneous. We don’t know what she’ll do because a snake can’t be choreographed!”
