Salma Hayek Contemplates Love

(CBS)  Salma Hayek's new movie, "Ask the Dust," is the sort of thought-provoking story that seems to inevitably lead to broader contemplations about the meaning of true love.

Appearing on The Early Show Wednesday, the actress told co-anchor Harry Smith about her character, and about the film's poignant message.

Set in Depression-era Los Angeles, the movie was written and directed by Robert Towne, best known for the movie "Chinatown." The story is based on a book by an Italian American writer named John Fante, who wrote about the prejudice he observed in the first part of the 20th century.

Hayek plays the role of a Mexican waitress who falls in love with a young writer, played by Colin Farrell. And the actress, who was born in Mexico, told Smith it was a story line that made her stop and think.

"One of the things is how you fall in love with everything you never wanted to fall in love with," she said. "And almost as a contradiction, it's about how we make an image of love, what it's supposed to look like, sound like and how do you know? You are so busy looking for that, that love passes you by and looks at you in the face and you don't even recognize it because you are looking for something that you decided that's what it's supposed to be."

Her character, she said, shows a sort of heartbreaking vulnerability.

"It's one of the contradictions of the character, for me, that she is so strong, she's so passionate, she's like a volcano ready to erupt every second," she said. "Yet she breaks your heart, she's so full of fear. She's so fragile.

"And the one thing that I like most about this character is it made me think about all those women that had great spirits that inspired a man, that formed a man, that were such a great influence in a man.

"And they never got credit for it. The way that women touched them made them who they are later. But maybe the men don't even know it at the time, or they don't know how to say it."