In 2002, the movie Frida burst into theaters. A colorful biopic that focused on the passionate, colorful life of acclaimed Mexican artist, Frida Kahlo, the film was both a box office and Academy awards smash, netting $56 million during its theatrical run (on a mere $12 million budget) and earning two Oscars.
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My greatest ambition was to tell [Frida Kahlo's] story. It became my mission to portray the life of this extraordinary artist and to show my native Mexico in a way that combated stereotypes.
Salma Hayek: Harvey Weinstein was a passionate cinephile, a risk taker, a patron of talent in film, a loving father… https://t.co/meDwoXo1ui— New York Times Opinion (@New York Times Opinion)1513188383.0
The Weinstein empire, which was then Miramax, had become synonymous with quality, sophistication and risk taking — a haven for artists who were complex and defiant. It was everything that Frida was to me and everything I aspired to be.
I had started a journey to produce the film with a different company, but I fought to get it back to take it to Harvey.
As an actress, I would be paid the minimum Screen Actors Guild scale plus 10 percent. As a producer, I would receive a credit that would not yet be defined, but no payment, which was not that rare for a female producer in the ’90s. He also demanded a signed deal for me to do several other films with Miramax, which I thought would cement my status as a leading lady. I did not care about the money; I was so excited to work with him and that company. In my naïveté, I thought my dream had come true.
 He had validated the last 14 years of my life. He had taken a chance on me — a nobody. He had said yes. Little did I know it would become my turn to say no.
No to opening the door to him at all hours of the night, hotel after hotel, location after location, where he would show up unexpectedly, including one location where I was doing a movie he wasn’t even involved with. No to me taking a shower with him. No to letting a naked friend of his give me a massage. No to letting him give me oral sex. No, no, no, no, no …
And with every refusal came Harvey’s Machiavellian rage.
I ask all of our male allies in this industry, why have your journeys been so different from ours? I thank you… https://t.co/s8LHCd1C4C— Jessica Chastain (@Jessica Chastain)1513189238.0
1. Get a rewrite of the script, with no additional payment.
2. Raise $10 million to finance the film.
3. Attach an A-list director.
4. Cast four of the smaller roles with prominent actors.
Salma Hayek’s essay on what Weinstein did to her in the NYTimes is HARROWING. And it stings all the more because… https://t.co/pFSF9CZfLT— Catherynne M. Valente (@Catherynne M. Valente)1513196953.0
I arrived on the set the day we were to shoot the scene that I believed would save the movie. And for the first and last time in my career, I had a nervous breakdown: My body began to shake uncontrollably, my breath was short and I began to cry and cry, unable to stop, as if I were throwing up tears.
Since those around me had no knowledge of my history of Harvey, they were very surprised by my struggle that morning. It was not because I would be naked with another woman. It was because I would be naked with her for Harvey Weinstein. But I could not tell them then.
I didn’t consider my voice important, nor did I think it would make a difference. In reality, I was trying to save myself the challenge of explaining several things to my loved ones: Why, when I had casually mentioned that I had been bullied like many others by Harvey, I had excluded a couple of details...
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