‘It’s good to be 60’: Salma Hayek embraces new chapter

Salma Hayek Pinault just turned 60, and she is in love — with her life.

“I’m not going to apologize for this age,” she says. “It’s good to be 60. You strive for this age. I’m quite excited about embracing this new time. I feel young, which is all that matters. I keep growing up.

“As women age, I believe we have more things to say, and we can say them more clearly,” she continues. “I’m saying them.”

Her latest film, “Without Blood,” now in theaters, has a lot to say about war and its repercussions. Based on Alessandro Baricco’s novel, it was directed and co-written by Angelina Jolie and co-stars Demian Bichir. Hayek Pinault plays Nina, a woman who hunts for the three men responsible for the wartime murder of her father and brother when she was a child. “It’s a movie that asks us to have more conversations as human beings,” Hayek Pinault says. “It makes us examine our humanity.”

Her own life is rapidly changing these days since her youngest daughter, Valentina, just entered college, leaving Hayek Pinault and her husband, Francois-Henri Pinault, with an empty nest. She’s also a stepmom to his three children and now a first-time grandmother.

She shared her good life tips:

No to yes

“I called Salma early on, and she said, ‘No,’ ” Jolie recalls.

Why the quick response? “First, I didn’t know she was going to direct the movie,” Hayek Pinault explains. “She sent me the script because I was looking for material. I read ‘Without Blood’ and said, ‘It’s super interesting, but it’s completely director dependent, so I don’t know. … Then, Angelina comes back and says, ‘If you really, really, really don’t want to do it … and I don’t understand why you would say no … then who should I cast?’ I said, ‘Wait, wait, wait a minute. You’re directing it?’ ”

Change your mind

Hayek was worried that “Without Blood’s” grim subject matter would harm her own emotional health. “I thought, ‘I don’t want to suffer so much. I don’t want to put myself through this character. I suffered in my life, and now my life is good in the moment. I don’t want to go there.’ … Angelina convinced me. Before I knew it, I was already on the set loving the experience. Angie and I had so many conversations about how this movie was so much more than something about war.”

Surprise yourself

“It’s not the most difficult role I’ve ever played, but the most complex. … From time to time, Angelina would ask for beautifully strange things or tough things like, ‘I will give you 45 minutes to learn five pages of dialogue,’ and we would say, ‘What!’ And sometimes Demian and I would look at each other and say, ‘Can we do it?’ But we did it. That was exhilarating. It’s so beautiful at this age to be challenged.”

A new chapter

“We’re empty nesters now,” says Hayek Pinault, whose daughter is in college now studying political science and film. “I have to be honest and say it isn’t easy during that year before the kids leave. You find yourself counting it down. It’s that last birthday living at home, the last summer, the last holidays, etc. You will always miss that person who makes you laugh all day long. … The good part is you are starting this whole new chapter, which is exciting. I can devote more time to artistic projects and community work.”

Healthy outlook

Her best stress relief comes from within. “I meditate pretty much every single day,” Hayek Pinault says. “And I listen to my body.” As for exercise, she only uses her treadmill a few times a year. “I love dancing, and it’s cardio,” she says. “And I make sure to get outdoors to keep my body moving with the sun on my face.”