Yahoo Movies Salma Hayek on Finally Teaming Up With Eugenio Derbez in 'Latin Lover' — and How Pronouncing His Name Requires a 'Puking Noise'
Until recently, Eugenio Derbez was largely unknown to American audiences. That all changed when his 2013 comedy Instructions Not Included came out of nowhere to gross $44 million, becoming not only one of the biggest box-office sleepers of the year, but also the highest grossing Spanish-language film ever released in the U.S.
Salma Hayek is no stranger to Derbez. She’s been friends with him for 30 years, and now plays his sister in new comedy, How to Be a Latin Lover. “I was trying to work with Eugenio for a very long time,” Hayek told Yahoo Movies (watch above). “I understand his value in the Latin market, and I understand the value of the Latin market itself.”
The film, directed by The State and Wet Hot American Summer alum Ken Marino (who, as Hayek points out, doesn’t speak Spanish and thus didn’t understand some of his stars’ improvised dialogue), features Derbez as an aging lothario who prays on rich, older woman before a come-to-Jesus moment sends him back to tighten up his family ties.
As with Instructions, Latin Lover should rack up some major dinero and continue to raise Derbez’s profile. So we should really know how to pronounce his name (Ay-oo-hehn-ee-oh), and Hayek has your tutorial.
“I tell him, ‘It’s very difficult for Americans, because it has two vowels at the beginning, and a puking sound in the middle,” she laughed. “It’s really, really ugly, this name, for him in Spanish. It’s really not ugly when we pronounce it, but when you guys pronounce it, it’s a whole different thing.”
How to Be a Latin Lover is now in theaters.
Salma Hayek: Watch Yahoo Movies’ full Role Recall interview:
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