Salma Hayek Reveals ‘Screaming’ Fight With ‘Eternals’ Director Chloe Zhao

The road to making Eternals was not an entirely easy journey, Salma Hayek reveals. The actress, in an interview with Elle, reveals she and director Chloe Zhao exchanged some heated words once over their creative differences. “I had some problems with the script and we got into a serious fight at my house,” the actress shared.

The words thrown between the two escalated from regular talking to shouts. Eventually, it got to the point where those outside of the door believed someone was being fired.  “We were both passionate. And she was like, ‘No, but that’s not how I designed it.’ The people outside my house were calling it a fight, because we were kind of screaming,” she continued. “We continued to talk and talk, and it went on for a long time. The people outside were so nervous that I was going to get fired.”

The end result couldn’t have been farther from the case. Hayek says she wound up leaving the conversation with a new appreciation for Zhao and her fervor. “I came out and I said, ‘Wow, I’m in love with her brain!’ That was the best creative conversation I’ve ever had with a director in my life, and she felt the same. She told me, ‘Wow! That was amazing,’” Hayek recalled.

“It was just complete freedom. We found our middle ground. While finding it, we came up with other ideas. It was super exciting,” she continued. Angelina Jolie (who was also interviewed for the story) backed up Hayek’s tale of events. “It’s true what she’s saying,” Jolie said. “There was no ego. There was no time for it, no room for it with everyone. That’s part of who Chloé is.”

“I was very drawn to the idea of her taking on Marvel because it didn’t seem obvious. Then you meet her and you understand her personal connection to the Marvel Cinematic Universe and her love for these types of films —how she grew up, what they mean to her, then it makes a lot of sense. I knew whatever it was going to be, she was going to bring something unique,” Jolie continued. Hayek added: “What happened there is that I realized, she’s super strong. She knows what she wants. She had a clear vision of the field. She’s open to hearing, but you have to really make a smart point.”