Happy Cinco de Mayo!
Some of Hollywood’s hottest stars come from our neighbor in the South. In preparation of celebrating Mexican heritage and culture Saturday, Us Weekly has rounded up some of our favorite Mexican-American stars.
Salma Hayek
The Teresa actress was born in Coatzacoalcos, Veracruz, Mexicao. Her mother is of Spanish descent and her father is of Lebanese ancestry. “I started out in Hollywood at the same time as Jennifer Lopez,” Hayek, now 45, told Marie Claire in 2007. “Before us, Latinas only had roles that were part of the backdrop, or the maid or the prostitute. We changed that.”
Eva Longoria
The Desperate Housewives star is the youngest of four girls born to Mexican-American Enrique Longoria, Jr. and Ella Eva Mireles. The 37-year-old actress released a cookbook in 2011 titled, Eva’s Kitchen: Cooking with Love for Family and Friends, that includes some of her favorite family recipes.
Demi Lovato
Lovato is of Mexican, Irish and Italian descent. While the 19-year-old “Skyscraper” singer embraces her Mexican heritage, she revealed on Late Night With Jimmy Fallon in September 2011 that she doesn’t speak Spanish “at all!” The singer/actress does perform some of her songs in Spanish, but said she just memorizes them.
Selena Gomez
The “Who Says” singer’s father is of Mexican ancestry and her mother is of part Italian descent. The 19-year-old girlfriend of Justin Bieber told Scholastic in 2008, “My family does have Quincenaras, and we go to the communion church. We do everything that’s Catholic, but we don’t really have anything traditional except go to the park and have barbeques on Sundays after church.”
Mario Lopez
The Extra host and former Saved By The Bell actor was born to Mexican parents, Elvia and Mario Michael Lopez, Sr., and raised in a Catholic family. Lopez, 38, welcomed daughter Gia Francesca Lopez on Sept. 11, 2010 with his then girlfriend Courtney Laine Mazza. He proposed over New Year’s weekend to the Broadway dancer while on vacation in Ixtapa, Mexico.
Jessica Alba
The Fantastic Four actress’ father is Mexican American and her mother is of Danish and French Canadian descent. Alba, 31, married Cash Warren on May 19, 2008 and now have two daughters together, Honor, 3, and Haven, 8 months. In February 2008, the actress told Latina magazine she’s proud of her Mexican heritage and was “excited for my baby to be brown.”
