Who’d have thought that curvy Salma Hayek and lean Renee Zellweger could wear the same dress size? In a twist of fate, Renee, 50, was able to come to Salma’s rescue in 2003 when they were both up for Best Actress at the Oscars, but a last-minute, booty-related wardrobe disaster left the 53-year-old Like A Boss star without a gown. Salma recalled the tale while presenting Renee with the Best Actress award for her role in Judy at the National Board of Review Awards Gala in N.Y.C. on Jan. 8, 2020.
“And even the night before when my big butt exploded the seams of my Oscar dress and I had no dress for the Oscars, she ended up giving me one of her dresses that, thank God, was wide here [as she gestured around her butt] and stretchy here [as she gestured around her chest]. That’s what I wore for that night,” Salma said. She looked incredible in a simple and classy Carolina Herrera gown that featured a sleeveless, low-cut embellished black lace bodice with a long white A-line skirt with a fuller backside.
It fit Salma like a glove and no one would have guessed that it wasn’t the dress she selected to wear as a first-time Oscar nominee for Best Actress in Frida. Renee ended up wearing a skin-tight red Carolina Herrera gown with red sequin embellishments on the long bodice, a cutout section on her chest and an open back. It also featured a slight train. Ultimately the dress went down as one of Renee’s all-time best Oscar looks, so she made the right choice by giving the black and white number to Salma.
In 2003 Renee was nominated for Best Actress for Chicago and even though Salma was her competition, she revealed in her NBR Awards introduction that, “It was annoying because at some point I would go, I wish she wins, she’s so amazing.” Both ladies ended up losing to Nicole Kidman, 52, for her role in The Hours.