Salma Hayek Pinault is opening up about the imposter syndrome she felt when it came time to shoot the 2025 issue of Sports Illustrated Swimsuit.
In the cover photo, which was exclusively shared on TODAY May 13 and will hit newsstands on May 17, Hayek Pinault is seen confidently posing in a green Johanna Ortiz swimsuit. But ahead of the photo shoot, Hayek Pinault admits that she was scared.
“At the beginning, it felt like imposter syndrome and terrifying, terrifying, terrifying,” she told Jenna Bush Hager and guest co-host Erin Andrews on the May 13 episode of "TODAY with Jenna & Friends."
Hayek Pinault explained that she had second thoughts about the opportunity and tried to get out of it.
“I wanted to pull out,” she said. “I was looking for any kind of excuse to (pull out). I started to panic.”
But ultimately, she followed through with the photo shoot, despite her nerves.
“At this point, it felt terrifying,” she said. “At this point, I kind of said, ‘I’m just going to own it and rock it.’ I was so happy. So I think it is so much a right to be full of joy, to be full of life, to be happy and embrace yourself and life itself at any age.”
“We don’t expire like my generation was told,” she later said.
Hayek Pinault also shared that doing the photo shoot taught her the importance of saying “yes” to things that scare you. “And to have fun doing the things that terrify you,” she added.
