Salma Hayek made a flamboyant start to the Cannes Film Festival today in an eye-catching dress.
The Mexican actress was the centre of attention in her wacky Gucci dress at a photocall to promote her new film Puss In Boots with co-star Antonio Banderas. The 44-year-old was wearing a strapless burnt orange leather dress and matching floral bolero from the label's Autumn/Winter 2011 collection.
Hayek is a big fan of the Italian label, but her decision to wear the unusual ensemble is also helping the family business - her billionaire husband François-Henri Pinault is the CEO of PPR, the company who owns Gucci. Despite her tight-fitting dress and killer platform heels, Hayek managed to climb up on a pair of giant boots, which had been placed at the end of the pier on Carlton Beach. During the photocall, she larked around and cuddled up to her Spanish co-star Banderas.
New animated film Puss In Boots sees Banderas reprise his role as the swashbuckling cat from the Shrek films. Hayek is a new addition to the cast, playing Puss's love interest, a tuxedo cat named Kitty Softpaws.
The 3D film, which has been in the works since 2004, won't be released in cinemas until November this year. But as one of the big animated releases planned for this year, the cast drummed up publicity for the film against the backdrop of the French Riviera. Speaking to the assembled world's press, Hayek said: 'When I started out, Hispanic roles were very limited. Roles were very limited. There were one or two kinds of characters you used to do. Now we get to play the cats! It's OK to be a Hispanic, even if you are a cat.'Hayek also spoke about how she was embracing her middle-age in Hollywood.
She explained: 'What makes you feel old is when you are not excited about life. You are not excited anymore about what you do, and you cannot do it as well. 'I do feel my body beginning to - like, I need glasses now when I read my scripts. I wear them, but I'm happy to wear them and happy that I still get to read my scripts. 'So it's not been so bad. They scared me. They told me, "Forget it. At 30, it's over for you". And it has not been the case. It feels great to age in Hollywood.'