Salma Hayek is experiencing somewhat of a resurgence. Not that the star ever went away, but she has found a footing as a voice for causes in addition to her acting work.

Salma Hayek has long been outspoken politically and is a vocal advocate for women’s rights globally. Hayek explains that she was not always so eager to use her fame as a loudspeaker for causes.

“At first I felt I shouldn’t get attention for that work [activism],” Hayek told the LA Times. “I thought I should only get attention for my work as an actress. But now I’m advocating just to say that we can be better than we are. Life is exhausting. Sometimes we fall into the river of life and it just takes us, and we don’t get to look around or swim or stop to drink it. By the time we realize it, we got to the end of it and it’s over. We should take control over it.”

Salma Hayek's rack is a gift from God

— yung peen (@mxhsxn) July 26, 2015

Another cause Hayek supports is the fight against discrimination against immigrants in the United States. Hayek, who was born in Mexico, once revealed that she was an illegal immigrant for a short time. As she struggled to build a career in the U.S., she says she faced an uphill battle because of prejudice.

“I had to endure the worst time of all in terms of racial discrimination in Hollywood when I first started out,” Hayek told V Magazine in Spain. “It was inconceivable to American directors and producers that a Mexican woman could have a lead role.”

Hayek is in a unique position to comment on Donald trump’s incendiary statements about Mexican immigrants. Her take on it? It is a simple maneuver designed to fool dumb people. And it is working.

“It’s a very simple tactic for self-promotion,” Hayek says of Trump’s jingoistic statements. “What’s sad is how easily people are manipulated. I’m not insulted because I cannot be insulted by stupidity. Everybody’s entitled to have uninformed opinions. Everybody’s entitled to be dumb. But I’m not dumb, so I see through the manipulation. We have something to learn from this. That is that the educated people or the people with great human values have to wake up, because they are under the illusion that most of this country is like them and sometimes they don’t even go to vote.”

.@GoldBlumed Every day, women I meet that are not famous but that their courage & ability to deal with hard issues in life, give me strength

— Salma Hayek (@salmahayek) July 29, 2015