Salma Hayek has opened up about her rise in Hollywood.

The Frida star told InStyle in an interview released Tuesday that she realizes ‘how big of a risk it was to come to the United States in the first place and start again as an actress.’

The actress, 52, was ‘doing really well’ on the soap circuit in Mexico before she came to the United States to start a career in film, but her eyes were set on the prize – directing and acting for the big screen.

Getting real: Salma Hayek (pictured) has opened up about her embattled rise to becoming the talent she is today

She opened up to the outlet on her struggle to launch Frida, a film that she produced and was later nominated for at the Oscars.

‘I had to fight for eight years to get Frida off the ground. Nobody wanted to make a story about a Mexican Communist artist with one eyebrow.

‘It was really hard. But I had a vision for it. And I’m proud that I produced it too.

Risk-taker: Hayek (pictured) told InStyle in an interview released Tuesday that she realizes ‘how big of a risk it was to come to the United States in the first place and start again as an actress’

Covergirl: Hayek, 52, was ‘doing really well’ on the soap circuit in Mexico before she came to the United States to start a career in film, but her eyes were set on the prize – directing and acting for the big-screen. Here she is on the cover of InStyle back in 2010

Regal: Hayek (pictured here at a May event) opened up to the outlet on her struggle to launch Frida, a film that she produced and was later nominated for at the Oscars

‘There was no “Oh, can I please have a credit?” No, no, no. I made that s*** happen.’

Looking back at an InStyle cover she did in 2009 for the Color! issue, she pointed out what she sees as the innate racial bias of cover story selections in the early 2000s.

‘Some magazines in the early 2000s wouldn’t put me on their covers precisely because I was a woman of color.

And with pride, she also pointed out the ageism that she faces as a woman in Hollywood: ‘I was also 42. Remember that I was told I would expire at 30? Here I am, 42 years old and still on the cover of magazines.’

Despite the fact that it wasn’t ‘a popular thing to do’ years ago, Hayek has ‘been an activist for women for more than 25 years.’

‘Things have changed a lot for women in Hollywood since then.

‘We are still getting paid less than men by a lot. But it’s getting better little by little.

‘Now, at 53, I’m getting to play the best parts of my life.’