Salma Hayek worried about ‘getting in trouble’ over Black Mirror role

Salma Hayek has shared her fears around playing herself in the new season of Black Mirror.

The Frida actor appears in the star-studded sixth season of Charlie Brooker’s dystopian anthology drama, in the episode “Joan is Afraid”. Black Mirror last aired on Netflix in 2019.

In the episode, a real woman called Joan (Annie Murphy) learns that her life has been turned into a TV show on a Netflix-esque streaming service, with Salma Hayek playing her.

Speaking about the role in a new episode, Hayek said that Black Mirror had presented “a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to play an interpretation of myself”.

“I got to explore the concepts and clichés people have about me and be self-deprecating,” the Mexican-American actor told Radio Times.

“It’s as if I created an alter ego where I could do the most disgusting, grotesque things that you would never do in real life… and have permission to do that.”

Hayek continued: “There are so many moments that shocked me in the script. There is one huge one that I had to come to terms with, and made me ask myself, ‘Do I really want to do this? Am I going to get in trouble?’’”

“Joan is Afraid” will co-star Michael Cera, Ben Barnes and Rob Delaney. Also appearing in the new season of Black Mirror are Josh Hartnett, Kate Mara, Monica Dolan, Rory Culkin, Samuel Blenkin and Zazie Beetz.

Pearl Harbor star Hartnett recently spoke to The Independent about his role in Black Mirror, saying that he was drawn to the show due to its satirical take on technological dystopia.

“I think if you’re going to give people a heavy dose of dystopia, you need some levity,” he said. “Even if the darkness is front and centre in his shows, there’s always that element of, ‘This is really funny.’”

You can read the full interview with Hartnett here.

Black Mirror returns to Netflix on Thursday 15 June.