'It is a humbling sensation'

Hollywood star Salma Hayek says she is someone who 'dreams big' and she was surprised to finally get to do 'Eternals', which fulfils her wish of playing a superhero in a blockbuster movie with a great director like Chloe Zhao.

The upcoming 'Marvel Cinematic Universe' movie revolves around the Eternals, an alien race living on Earth for over 7,000 years, who team up to protect humanity from their evil counterparts, the Deviants.

Hayek said she does not look like a traditional superhero the audiences are used to watching on screen. She plays Ajak, the wise and spiritual leader at the heart of the story, who can heal and is the 'bridge' between the Eternals and their creators called the Celestials.

"It is a humbling experience because I dream big and if I had not, I would not have gotten here at all. In my big dreams, I wanted to be a superhero and I wanted to work with the best directors in the world and have big blockbuster movies and movies that are art and made from a very deep place with great directors," Hayek said in a recent virtual press conference for the film from Los Angeles.

She added, "And it did not happen that much for me. So, you fight for it in your 20s, in your 30s and in your 40s you go, 'Oh, leave them. They do not get it, they miss out. I would have been great in the art films and I would have been a great superhero but they did not see it. Leave them, we are going to do something else'."

Hayek said she had given up on playing a superhero and then 'Eternals' came her way.

"Now it is very humbling when in the middle of your 50s, a brilliant director allows you to do both: do something that comes from a deep place, that is also a big blockbuster. I was wrong. Everything is possible. And it is a humbling sensation," she added.

The gender of Ajak, the character played by Hayek, was swapped from a man to a woman as Zhao said both she and 'Marvel Studios' president Kevin Feige wanted a 'mother figure' as the leader of the Eternals.