Salma Hayek: I Was An Illegal Immigrant

No one's deporting this beauty! Salma Hayek admitted that after coming to Los Angeles to study acting in 1991, she had stayed in the U.S. illegally after her student visa expired.

"I was an illegal immigrant in the United States," Hayek said to the Spanish edition of V magazine. "It was for a small period of time but I still did it." Her publicist confirmed the situation, but said that Hayek returned to her native Mexico shortly after to renew the visa.

Hayek is now a naturalized American citizen, which the bombshell actress said she was proud of, even though she encountered racism at times, especially in Hollywood. "I had to endure the worst time of all in terms of racial discrimination in Hollywood when i first started out," she said. "It was inconceivable to American directors and producers that a Mexican woman could have a lead role."

But she said that the industry has changed, thanks in part to her own tenacity as well as other trailblazers like Jennifer Lopez and Ricky Martin. "Hollywood has definitely grown, in embracing the inclusion of Latinos in the world, because, for some time, we didn't exist. We were not part of any stories. I was privileged to be part of a small generation of people who broke through that door first." —ISHITA SINGH