The 46-year-old Mexican American actress, an Academy Award nominee for her performance in Frida, has been added to the list of presenters at this year’s Oscars.
Hayek, who will next appear in Grown Ups 2, joins Melissa McCarthy, Liam Neeson and John Travolta as most recent additions to the presenters list.
The Academy Awards will take place on Sunday, February 24 at the Dolby Theatre at Hollywood & Highland Center.
Salma Hayek has joined forces with some of Hollywood’s brightest luminaries for a campaign aimed at educating and empowering underprivileged girls.
The 46-year-old Mexican actress has joined Kerry Washington, Selena Gomez, Cate Blanchett, Anne Hathaway, Alicia Keys, Chloe Grace Moretz, Liam Neeson, Freida Pinto and Meryl Streep for a unique project entitled Girl Rising.
The celebrity-narrated documentary, which debuted at the Sundance Film Festival, spotlights the impact access to education could have on the lives of young girls in developing countries — and their local economies.
The film, which follows nine girls in places like India, Peru, Haiti, Ethiopia and Cambodia, is directed by Oscar nominee Richard E. Robbins and is part of 10×10, a global campaign to educate and empower underprivileged girls. Currently, there are 66 million girls who are not in school.
“Many women around the world continue to struggle for equality in education,” Hayek said in a statement. “I hope Girl Rising raises the visibility on a global level for this fundamental issue.”
Girl Rising, which is still in post-production, will premiere on March 7 in New York and Los Angeles via CNN Films.
In addition, with the help of Gathr, a company that crowd-sources film distribution, Girl Rising could literally hit a theater near you. The process is simple: After registering with Gathr, moviegoers can request a screening of Girl Rising at a local theater. If enough people purchase advance tickets, the screening will take place. Click here for more details.
“I’m proud to be part of a film that brings stories about real-life heroines around the world to movie-going audiences,” Washington said in a statement. “Their examples of strength and perseverance, against all odds, have the power to change the world.”
He won’t be appearing in Wrath of the Titans until next spring, but you don’t have to wait that long to get a glimpse of Édgar Ramírez in the sequel to last year’s Clash of the Titans reboot.
The 34-year-old Venezuelan actor appears in the just-released trailer for the fantasy film. The pulse-pounding two-minute clip shows what happens when the movie’s titular Titans spring loose from their supernatural prison and unleash their wrath on the Greek gods.
“They’ll bring chaos, the end of the world,” warns Liam Neeson as Zeus.
From the looks of the trailer, you can expect plenty of special effects in Wrath, including a lumbering Cyclops and a two-bodied, eight-armed ogre that slashes his way past his enemies.
Ramírez plays Ares, the treacherous god of war, in the film, hich sees the return of Sam Worthington as Perseus.
Wrath of the Titans hits theatres on March 30, 2012.
