The 54-year-old actress admits that even she had to ‘lose a lot of weight and exercise’ to look the way she wanted.

Like many who were in quarantine for most of last year, Salma Hayek said she had some work to do before she felt comfortable in her skin again. But once she did, the 54-year-old actress made sure her Instagram followers saw the results!

ET’s Rachel Smith spoke with Hayek earlier this week about the jaw-dropping bikini pics she’s been posting on Instagram, and why she sees them as “liberating.”

“I had to lose a lot of weight and exercise to get into the bikini towards the end of last year,” she said, noting that she took a lot of pics of herself after she got down to the size she wanted. “I’m glad I took a lot of pictures, I have no shame on it, because it was the first week of the vacation.”

However, since her bikini-clad getaway, Hayek joked, “But after that first week and when I heard that everybody was going back into quarantine, I started eating again.”

This hasn’t stopped her from sharing throwback images from her vacation. “I saved my pictures, I’m not in the same condition today and I’m spreading the love out like every two weeks,” she shared. “I’m going to put up another one. I’m almost running out of them but I don’t know if you have that feeling, like, 2021!”

She quipped of her pics, “People are sick of it but I’m going to let them take a break. They’re going to think I’m wearing a bikini every day. No, they’re all from the same location.”

Hayek isn’t all play and no work! Her Marvel movie, Eternals, also starring Kumail Nanjiani, Angelina Jolie and more stars, has been continuously pushed back due to the pandemic but she assures fans that it’s worth the wait.

“I think it definitely has it’s own DNA within the Marvel universe. It is different,” she said of the film. “It was directed by a woman [Chloé Zhao] and we didn’t do most of the things in the studio. They’re real locations which is unusual for Marvel. I’m very excited about the film, it definitely has the special vibe to it that is unique. I’m really excited about it and I love my character and I love the cast.”

Hayek is also busy promoting her movie, Bliss, starring Owen Wilson. In the romcom, the actress plays the mysterious Isabel, a woman living on the streets and convinced that the world is a computer simulation, who meets Greg (Wilson), a divorcee who’s also been recently fired.