Meet Valentina Pinault, Salma Hayek's Daughter

In 2006, Salma Hayek found the man of her dreams in François-Henri Pinault (via People). "I found a man better than any man I could ever in my life imagine existed," she said of the French businessman during an interview with Latina (via the Daily Mail). "He found me, actually. I wasn't even looking."

A year later, the couple announced their engagement. If that news wasn't happy enough, they were also expecting their first child together. Born in September 2007 (via Oprah Daily), their daughter Valentina became the light of Hayek and Pinault's lives. "I never wished for someone to exist as much as I wished for you to come in my life," the actress captioned an Instagram post celebrating her daughter's 13th birthday, accompanied by a heartwarming photo of her cradling her baby girl.

"You are my greatest teacher, my greatest joy, and my greatest hope. I loved you before you were born and I'll love you forever," she ended the post, calling Valentina her "shining star."

Valentina isn't active on social media it seems, but her mother occasionally shares little snippets of her life. The actress has proudly posted photos of her baby girl as she's grown older, like this throwback which sees another snap of Hayek cradling a newborn Valentina (via Instagram).

Hayek also regularly shares her filming experiences with Valentina, who is (unsurprisingly) a regular visitor to sets that her mom is working on. In 2016, Hayek shared an image of herself dressed in regal attire for the film "Tale of Tales" (via Instagram), with her young daughter at her side sitting on a throne and holding a prop.

In 2021, Hayek gave a little more insight into Valentina's life after revealing that while her daughter successfully did schoolwork over lockdown, she found it difficult not being able to see her friends. "Lockdown was very difficult for a teenager," she told The Telegraph (via Hello!). "[Valentina] was very independent and did her online schoolwork on her own, but she didn't enjoy it. She also really missed her friends."

Despite her struggles with lockdown, Valentina did get the opportunity to see her mom's new movie, "The Hitman's Wife's Bodyguard,"  which Hayek was less than pleased about. "She never wants to see my stuff, but she insisted on watching this one and to go with her friends," Hayek said on "Late Night with Seth Meyers." She continued, "I was really nervous and embarrassed. I said, 'Don't bring your friends, I'm really going to embarrass you,' and she's like, 'You embarrass me all the time, every day, so what's going to be different?'"

Hayek warned her daughter that the film is "very raunchy", but Valentina remained indifferent. "Oh, I'm sure there's nothing in there that I haven't heard or seen," she told her mom. Hayek continued, "Anyway, she convinced me and they loved it. She says, 'Mom, I understand it's not you, it's the character.' I was quite impressed with that."

It's safe to say most moms are proud of their kids, but Salma Hayek has made it clear that her daughter, Valentina Pinault, is the center of her life. In an interview with People from 2008, just a few months after Valentina was born, Hayek said, "I only have one daughter, and that has been ... I don't know, maybe I will have more, but for now this definitely has been the most incredible experience I have had in my life, and I have done a lot. I am sure that there are plenty of women that say, 'God, what a marvelous life. She can do this or that.' But there is nothing that I have done that is more incredible than to have a child." 

It seems her adoration of Valentina has only grown. In 2021, Hayek posted a photo of her daughter on Instagram, wishing her a happy birthday with the caption: "My precious girl, you are everything to me. Blessed be the day you came into my life to shine your radiant light Happy Birthday Valentina!!!!! Thank you for being YOU."

Kids can be difficult. There's a reason the term "terrible twos" was coined for temperamental toddlers. Yet, according to Salma Hayek, Valentina Pinault was not part of the terrible twos club. When Valentina was a baby, Hayek told People, "She's very nice. She makes me laugh all the time. I'll tell you what lesson she has given me: My daughter laughs all day and all night, even sleeping, she's laughing. She's always in a good mood." Hayek adds that Valentina's good mood was "contagious" and that Valentina's happiness has led to her own increased joy and laughter.

As Valentina has grown up, it seems she's remained a good-natured kid. Though Hayek described her daughter as "willful" in 2019 (per Town & Country), she adds that Valentina was also "very creative, very smart, very funny." Hayek admits Valentina's willfulness may be an inherited trait. Hayek was expelled from Catholic school as a child for playing pranks on the nuns. "I was ingenious," Hayek said. "I always had a sense of humor, but there was a naïveté in the naughtiness."

Being bilingual is impressive, but being trilingual is next-level. With her mother fluent in Spanish and her father fluent in French, Valentina knows both languages in addition to English. According to Hello! Magazine, Valentina demonstrates her language skills at public events such as her mom's Hollywood Walk of Fame ceremony, where Valentina gave interviews in Spanish and English.

According to Hayek (per Express) "[I've now been living] like five years in Paris (sic), and I still can't speak French, and it's so humiliating. Not only (does) she have to translate everything for me, but she has developed the talent for imitating and, of course, my husband has a very thick accent in English, and so do I, and she has, like, no accent, and she makes fun of us." Valentina, who was just 5 years old at the time, was quite the jokester. "She can imitate me trying to speak English and me trying to speak French ... She can do any accent, and I can't speak any language," Hayek said.

Valentina and her mom, Salma Hayek, share a special bond, but one unique element of their connection is that they tend to speak Spanish with each other. "When we are with more people, I like [speaking Spanish] because it is like a secret because nobody speaks Spanish," Valentina tells Vogue Mexico, adding that she usually speaks French with her dad. Salma agrees, telling Valentina, "I speak to you in Spanish if I don't want those around us to understand us."

However, their so-called secret language isn't just convenient; It's one of the ways they stay connected to their roots — and to each other. "I think it reinforces unity, the family bond; It strengthens the bond we have," Hayek says. Another thing the mother-daughter duo shares? Clothes. "In this house, we fight over clothes because she takes everything from my closet. Then I can't find anything," Hayek says.

Asking a 15-year-old what they want to do with their life can be an exercise in futility; Most of us try on a few different careers before we find one that fits. When an interviewer asked Valentina about her plans, she acknowledged that she hasn't settled on just one thing. "I want different things, but I almost always move between four," Valentina tells Vogue Mexico. "I would like to be an actress and then a director because that is what makes sense in my head."

If she's anything like her mom, acting may come easy for her. After all, Salma Hayek is known as one of Hollywood's most talented and influential Latina actresses. But Salma warns her daughter that acting can be a tough career: "When you act very young, you lose your anonymity." She adds, "I think that on a general level, the best thing is to maintain and have a life strategy that allows you to have an artistic side, a professional side, and another as a woman, knowing that one of those things always takes a bit of risk." Solid advice!

Valentina, who may be an actress-to-be, is a fan of most of her mom's movies — but she's not afraid to speak her mind when she doesn't like her mom's work. "I gotta tell you, she's very tough. I was terrified to take her," Hayek told Ellen DeGeneres while promoting her movie "Eternals" (via People). "She's seen movies where she goes, 'My God, that was awful. Mom, what were you thinking?' So I was so scared."

Despite Hayek's concerns, Valentina gave "Eternals" her stamp of approval. From the audience of "The Ellen DeGeneres Show," Valentina said, "It was fun. It was a good movie." Valentina's strong opinions on film and movies may be due to her perspective on acting and directing. She tells Vogue Mexico, "I think it must be more difficult to be a director if you don't have experience on the other side of the screen; That could help directing." Spoken like a future actor-director, if you ask us.

Salma Hayek is known for her creative acting roles, and it seems this creativity has been passed down to Valentina. While the mom-and-daughter duo was being interviewed for Vogue Mexico, the interviewer asked what was in Valentina's and Hayek's bags. While Hayek brought an intriguing assortment, including snacks, palo santo, an iPad, dog treats, and chili powder, Valentina had several bottles of perfume, makeup, AirPods, a vintage ring from her grandma — and a vintage film camera. Though she snaps shots of her mom on the film camera in the video interview, she appreciates several photography media. "I take photos of my friends with disposable cameras," she shared. "I love photography. I take photography classes at school, and I love taking photos of my friends."

Hayek supports Valentina's photography endeavors, sharing, "I like her photos a lot. Her teachers also like her photos. She always has an interesting point of view."

Like many teens, Valentina Pinault is into makeup, but rather than being interested in cosmetics from a purely aesthetic standpoint, Valentina sees makeup as a creative endeavor. She tells Vogue Mexico, "I love makeup. I have a lot of it, but I don't do it to be very pretty or because I want to remove imperfections. I don't want to apply concealer because I think dark circles add something else. I like to wear makeup in lots of colors, and I don't know; I like to explore it."

Some of Valentina's favorite products? Charlotte Tilbury's Lip Cheat in Iconic Nude, Gucci lipstick in Mildred Rosewood, and a Victoria Beckham lip tint. While she loves her lip products, Valentina is adamant that there's one thing she can't live without — an eyelash curler. "It doesn't matter where I am. This," she says, waving the eyelash curler. "It's old, but this is the only one!"

She also shared three of her favorite perfumes, including Chanel's Misia. "I bought it with my allowance. When I go to a fancier place, I wear this one ... I love it."

In her Vogue Mexico interview, Valentina whips out a prayer candle — with singer Lana Del Rey on it. "She takes it to school or wherever we travel," Hayek said, referring to the candle. "When it comes to music ... It's Lana Del Rey. I pray to Lana Del Rey," Valentina says. Understandable.

Lana isn't the only icon Valentina loves. Other music favorites include Fleetwood Mac, Stevie Nicks, and Kanye West. "She has a full-body Kanye West poster on her ceiling," Hayek reveals. A smiling Valentina adds, "Yes, I love Kanye." However, when she first met Kanye, she didn't necessarily give the best first impression. Evidently, her mom woke her up early, telling her to get dressed and that Kanye was coming. Then, when Valentina had the chance to meet one of her idols, she didn't say "I love your music" or any of the typical things. Instead, she blurted out, "Do you want Starbucks?" Apparently, her slight awkwardness is part of her charm. "I always do something like that," she laughs.

Salma Hayek has been a fashion legend since the day she stepped into the public eye, so it makes sense that Valentina also has a penchant for fashion. On top of that, Valentina's father, François-Henri Pinault, is the CEO of Kering, which is a company that owns luxury fashion brands like Gucci and Alexander McQueen. With parents like hers, it would be shocking if Valentina didn't have an interest in fashion.

The 15-year-old seems to have come into her own sense of style in recent years. Perhaps that's due to all the fashion shows she attends with her mom. The duo has been spotted at several designer shows in recent years. In March 2023, the pair was seen at a Saint Laurent show. While Salma Hayek looked stunning in a moody, sheer emerald gown and cropped blazer, Valentina was on-trend in a silk maxi skirt, brown mesh top, and suede platforms.