May 15 (UPI) -- Salma Hayek says she "tried to get out of" modeling for the cover of the Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue.
The Mexican American actress, 58, opened up about the experience on The Tonight Show starring Jimmy Fallon Wednesday.
"I thought I was being punked," she said of being approached for the cover. "It was so surreal."
"At the beginning I was petrified," she added before singing, "First I was afraid, I was petrified," in a nod to Gloria Gaynor's 1978 hit "I Will Survive."
"I tried to get out of it. I did. I became a diva," she said.
Her publicist ultimately told her to "give it up" and follow through because the shoot was just around the corner.
After arriving on locale in Mexico, however, Hayek learned the airline had lost her suitcase containing her bathing suits, creams and medications.
"It was not a good night," she told Fallon. "And then, you know, all of a sudden, the first picture, a whale jumped behind us, and we're in Mexico and I said, 'You know what? Give me Bad Bunny, we're gonna do this. And I'm gonna love it.'"
Other cover models include Olympic gymnast Jordan Chiles, former gymnast Olivia Dunne, and model Lauren Chan.
