Salma Hayek Says Harvey Weinstein Yelled at Her for Looking 'Ugly' as Frida Kahlo

Salma Hayek is recalling the making of Frida and dealing with aggressions from the film's disgraced producer Harvey Weinstein.

The actress, 55, spoke to The Guardian to promote Marvel's Eternals when she was asked about the eight-year undertaking to get the biopic about the iconic Mexican painter made. Hayek received an Oscar nomination for Best Actress for her performance.

Hayek said Weinstein would bully her during the making of the film, although she revealed she didn't allow him to have power over her.

"I did feel all right [when he bullied me]. OK, I would shake [afterward] and it did depress me, but there was a cartoon aspect about the whole thing," Hayek said. "When he would call me up [during the making of Frida] and scream, 'Why do you have a [monobrow] and mustache? I didn't hire you to look ugly!' I was like, 'But didn't you ever look at a picture of Frida Kahlo?'"

She added, "If a man was playing Cyrano de Bergerac, he wouldn't say, 'What's with the nose?'"

Hayek said she "was very strong" when dealing with Weinstein, adding she "didn't just say no" to his harassment.

"I'm a force to be recognized," Hayek said. "He never saw me weak. It's not that I'm not afraid, but you're not going to see it. I can be almost intimidating in my calm strength, you know?"

A rep for Weinstein tells PEOPLE, "Harvey has fond memories of Ms. Hayek as far back as 1995. He believes that he had a friendly relationship, both with her and with her husband, Francois-Henri Pinault. Weinstein met them on vacation in Switzerland in 2015, he has gone to dinners with Hayek and her husband."

In 2017, as dozens of allegations against Weinstein began to surface, Hayek wrote an emotional op-ed for The New York Times where she alleged how Weinstein would go into a "Machiavellian rage" whenever she refused his sexual advances.

"The range of his persuasion tactics went from sweet-talking me to that one time when, in an attack of fury, he said the terrifying words, 'I will kill you, don't think I can't,'" she claimed.

At the time, Weinstein's rep responded to the allegations in a statement to PEOPLE.

"Mr. Weinstein regards Salma Hayek as a first-class actress and cast her in several of his movies, among them Once Upon a Time in Mexico, Dogma, and Studio 54. He was very proud of her Best Actress Academy Award nomination for Frida and continues to support her work," the statement read.

Now, Hayek is channeling her inner strength for Marvel's Eternals, where she plays Ajak, the leader of a group of immortal superbeings who guard the Earth.

Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

In September, Hayek told AARP Magazine she was surprised to book the role of a superhero at 55.

"I was shocked to get that role in my 50s," Hayek said. "I felt a sense of gratitude and excitement, not only for this but for what it meant about the possibilities for the future."

Eternals is in theaters this Friday.