Oprah Talks to Salma Hayek

Oprah: What?

Salma: I was okay if it didn't happen.

Oprah: Absolutely.

Salma: I didn't realize this before. As long as I knew that I did my very, very best, I was okay. I was so okay that when I made the transition from Mexico to Los Angeles, I said to myself, "I have something now. Is it what I want? No." I was making money, I was an actress, and I was famous. It looked like it's what I wanted, but it was not. And I was wise enough to recognize it. It's what others would think that I'd want, and sometimes that makes you feel it's good enough.

Oprah: Yes.

Salma: To be able to brag a lot on life—that's everybody's dream.

Oprah: That's right.

Salma: But is it your dream? And it wasn't my dream. And so I said that I'm going to leave it. This means I go there, and maybe it doesn't happen. And I am trading this, which looks like it's great, for this nothing that could be something.

Oprah: Absolutely!

Salma: And then I was excited about the possibility of the adventure of the nothingness that could be anything. I was excited about being brave about it and saying, "What I left didn't grab me by the balls." I can look at this and say, "Bye-bye, I don't need you! I am fine without you!" And if nothing happened, I could live with the not settling—because I knew I was going to like myself for making the decision to just go for it.