The Surprising Way The Eternals Prepared Salma Hayek For Bliss

Bliss was released in early 2021 directly to Amazon Prime Video as an Amazon Studios-produced film. It stars Owen Wilson as an everyman named Greg and Salma Hayek as a woman named Isabel Clemens who is possibly a scientist in another reality. Throughout the film, Isabel attempts to convince Greg that the reality he knows is merely a simulation.

Its central sci-fi conceit means that some moments in Bliss don't always follow the rules of Newtonian physics, since its supposed simulation allows characters to manipulate space-time.

Hayek will also soon star in Eternals, slated for a release later this year. Eternals is a Marvel Cinematic Universe film in which characters will also most likely not follow the physical laws of the world as we know it. That's because the super team at the center of Eternals comprises a race of immortal otherworldly beings.

Though Hayek's comparatively more pedestrian science fiction role in Bliss may not appear to have much in common with her turn as a cosmic superbeing for Marvel, it turns out that getting on-screen superpowers ultimately prepared her well for her role in Bliss.

Hayek explained how her work in Eternals teed her up for her other major sci-fi role this year in an interview with CinemaBlend. It was stunt work in Eternals specifically that provided Hayek with experience that turned out to be valuable during the shooting of Bliss.

In Eternals, Hayek plays the role of Ajak. In prior Eternals comic book stories, Ajak was a father figure to the central team of super beings. Hayek's version of Ajak, however, will turn the character into a matriarchal figure. If her powers resemble those of the comic book Ajak, she should be equipped with some combination of super strength, super speed, super intelligence, telepathy and/or the ability to shoot laser beams. Naturally, embodying that character required some stunt work.

Action scenes in Bliss ultimately required stunt work from her, too, for which she was prepared thanks to the proximity of the filming of both works. One moment she described in particular was a scene in Bliss in which her character is on roller skates. Hayek had no prior experience roller-skating but explained that her recent experience with superhero stunts prepared her to take on the challenge.

Hayek also recently detailed a diet and exercise regimen she undertook around the time of the filming of Eternals.

Hayek having learned to roller-skate in a short amount of time ultimately wasn't enough to win over critics, however. Bliss currently sits at a 33 percent critic score and 44 percent audience score on Rotten Tomatoes.

Fans of Wilson, Hayek, or roller-skating can steam Bliss now on Amazon Prime.