The actress called the role “a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to play an interpretation of myself”
Salma Hayek admits she was spooked about starring in the new season of Black Mirror.
In her episode, titled “Joan Is Awful,” a young woman played by Schitt’s Creek star Annie Murphy turns on the TV to discover Hayek starring in a show about her life.
Hayek, 56, spoke with Radio Times about being nervous — yet excited — to play herself in the creepy dystopian drama. She has even called the gig “a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.”
“I got to explore the concepts and clichés people have about me and be self-deprecating,” the Frida star said, per Independent. “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.”
Teasing the episode further, Hayek added: “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?'”
Michael Cera, Rob Delaney and Ben Barnes also star in the episode.
After Black Mirror’s big return was announced in April, series creator Charlie Brooker told Tudom.com how he plans to keep “surprising” viewers in its sixth season.
“It should be a series that can’t be easily defined, and can keep reinventing itself,” he said. “So partly as a challenge, and partly to keep things fresh for both me and the viewer, I began this season by deliberately upending some of my own core assumptions about what to expect.”
Brooker added, “Consequently, this time, alongside some of the more familiar Black Mirror tropes we’ve also got a few new elements to stretch the parameters of what ‘a Black Mirror episode’ even is.”
And while season 6 — which, in addition to Hayek, features Josh Hartnett, Kate Mara, Zazie Beetz and Rory Culkin — will keep the same tone from previous seasons, Brooker promised there will be “some crazy swings and more variety than ever before.”
“Bringing it all to life we’ve got an incredible roster of disgustingly skilful, smart directors working with a cast of actors so talented they frankly have no right to exist,” he added. “I can’t wait for people to binge their way through it all and hope they enjoy it — especially the bits they shouldn’t.”
Black Mirror made its debut on Netflix in 2016 after its first two seasons premiered on Channel 4 in the U.K. Under Netflix, it’s gone on to air three additional seasons plus an interactive special.
The series explores a “twisted, high-tech near-future where humanity’s greatest innovations and darkest instincts collide,” according to Netflix’s official website.
Season 6 of Black Mirror premieres June 15 on Netflix.