DAMN! SELMA HAYEK IS THE RICHEST WOMAN IN HOLLYWOOD! SHE'S WORTH OVER $7 BILLION!

Forget Angelina, Julia and ­Reese: Salma Hayek is the richest woman in Hollywood.
In the past three years, she's produced a hit TV show, married a billionaire and become one of Hollywood's hottest moms. And on Friday, she comes to theaters in "Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant," her first big-screen project since the birth of her daughter, Valentina, in 2007.

Her character, Madame Truska, a woman who can grow a beard, is yet another eccentric addition to her résumé. Hayek has merged her eyebrows into one fuzzy caterpillar for "Frida" and flung nonsensical insults at Jack Donaghy on "30 Rock."

Since her introduction to American audiences in "Desperado," the Mexican actress has used daring performances to gradually nix her typecasting as a sultry bimbo. This time, she looks more Merlin than mamacita, and that's the way she likes it. "It could have been any other type of freakiness," she told "Extra" of acting with facial hair. "I would have still done it."

Hayek, now 43, got her big break salving Antonio Banderas' wounds in 1995. Then she showed off her bodacious curves in a dance with a snake in "From Dusk Till Dawn" and made a man out of Matthew Perry in "Fools Rush In."

But lately she's more apt to parody her sexy image than play to type. In a recent sequence for "Jimmy Kimmel Live!," she sang an ode to her superlative hotness that ended in a dance number with a mariachi band.

In 2002, she scored an Oscar nod for her portrayal of Mexican painter Frida Kahlo in "Frida," which she produced with her production company, Ventanarosa. Hayek was the first Mexican ever nominated for a Best Actress Academy Award.

And just when she had risen to megastar status — and the media were wondering about her romantic prospects (some even speculated that she was in a secret lesbian liaison with friend Penelope Cruz) — Hayek proved that true success lay behind the scenes.

She nurtured two partnerships: the chance for Ventanarosa to import the hit Colombian telenovela "Yo Soy Betty La Fea" as "Ugly Betty" in 2006, and her relationship with French luxury goods billionaire Francois-Henri Pinault.

"Ugly Betty" won Emmy, Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild awards, many of them heaped on its star, America Ferrera. That success helped Hayek nab a two-year deal to develop projects for "Ugly Betty's" network, ABC. The show's fourth season started Friday.

Meanwhile, her love life made her a subject of media fascination. Pinault, 46, is the CEO of PPR, which owns brands such as Gucci, Yves Saint Laurent and Puma. A 2009 Forbes report on the world's billionaires notes that even though PPR's stock price has dropped in the economic downturn, the Pinault family is worth $7.6 billion.

After the birth of their daughter, Valentina, Hayek and Pinault announced they had called off their engagement, but by autumn 2008, it was back on — reportedly after Hayek visited Paris in September to see the latest collection from Balenciaga, another PPR-owned brand.

The two were married on Valentine's Day this year in a small ceremony at the City Hall of the Sixth Arrondissement in central Paris. In April, they had a second wedding in Venice for a who's who of celebrity guests.

The lavish fete displayed both Hayek's star wattage and her sense of fun. It was the only celebrity wedding in history, for instance, with Bono performing "Stand by Me" along with Woody Harrelson and guests such as Charlize Theron. For the reception, Hayek changed from bridal white into a hot-pink cocktail dress and boogied to Bruce Springsteen's "Drive All Night."

With Pinault's ring on her finger, she completed her transition into a Hollywood niche reserved for the coolest kids on the block: comedy. She got a guest role on NBC's "30 Rock" — an opportunity handed out only to A-listers such as Oprah Winfrey, Steve Martin and Jennifer Aniston. Next year, she'll show off another stamp of comic approval: an Adam Sandler movie. She plays the comedian's wife in the upcoming "Grown Ups."

Hayek has become a hot commodity in her jobs as performer and producer, and her refreshingly down-to-earth personality is part of her success. On a trip to Sierra Leone with UNICEF this spring, she breast-fed a hungry infant without shielding herself from the TV cameras.

"I thought about it: Am I being disloyal to my child by giving milk away?" she said at the time. "And I actually think that my baby would be very proud to be able to share her milk. And when she grows up, I'm going to make sure that she continues to be a generous, caring person. And I think that's the best thing I can give her as a mother."

Two-year-old Valentina was a visitor to the set of "Cirque du Freak" in New Orleans — where Pinault also brought along his two kids from a previous marriage — and got a chance to impress mom.

"I had a talk with her not too long ago," Hayek told "Access Hollywood" of her daughter. "I just said, ‘Listen, you have to slow down because I'm a first-time mommy and I'm not ready for some of the things you're doing.' She talks and she's been walking since 9 months."

While family is her focus, Hayek has enough projects to keep her star on the rise. Just because she and hubby are worth more than Brangelina and Oprah combined, she isn't slowing down.

"I have to move on because I'm doing other things," she said recently, when asked if she would return to the current season of "30 Rock." "I am producing ‘Ugly Betty.' We are developing other television shows and a couple of movies." Of the film projects, she clarified, "For the production company, not for me to act in them."

As it does for so many of Hollywood's savviest stars, some of Hayek's success comes from stepping out of the spotlight. But her work in comedy means that we'll see her in unexpected places.

Hayek ranks is among elite Hollywood performers like Vince Vaughn and Tina Fey, who can make their marks both on screen and off and are versatile at creating their own opportunities. She may have started her career by dodging bullets and caressing the man who would play Zorro, but today she's working on her own terms.