KUALA LUMPUR: Mexican-American actress Salma Hayek has admitted that Covid-19 "almost killed her".
In a recent interview with Variety magazine, the 54-year-old star of films as Wild Wild West, Across The Universe and Frida said that she tested positive for the coronavirus in the early days of the pandemic last year and kept it a secret.
"I almost lost my fight against the coronavirus. My doctor urged me to go to hospital because it was really bad, but I said 'No, I'd rather die at home'," said Hayek.
She had to be put on oxygen and was isolated in a room in her London home for seven weeks.
Last November, she shared an Instagram post of her "grimaces and funny faces" when she had her Covid-19 swab.
She said that she was "a lot better now" but had "not regained the energy" she used to have.
Hayek is currently filming House Of Gucci, which also stars singer-actress Lady Gaga and Adam Driver of the latest Star Wars trilogy.
"It was the perfect job to just get back into it," she said.
Hayek began her acting career in Mexico, starring in television dramas and films in the 1990s.
In 1991, she moved to Hollywood and appeared in films as Desperado (1995) and From Dusk Till Dawn (1996).
Hayek's breakthrough role was in the 2002 film Frida, as Mexican painter Frida Kahlo, for which she earned an Oscar nomination for Best Actress.
