Salma Hayek and Antonio Banderas opened the Cannes Film Festival today (11.05.11).

The 'Puss In Boots' co-stars climbed atop a pair of giant boots to promote the new 3-D animated movie as the annual event opened in the South of France.

And Salma admitted she is surprised that at the age of 44, she is getting more work than ever in notoriously age conscious Hollywood.

She explained: "What makes you feel old is when you are not excited about life. You are not excited anymore about what you do, and you cannot do it as well. I do feel my body beginning to - like, I need glasses now when I read my scripts. I wear them, but I'm happy to wear them and happy that I still get to read my scripts.

"So it's not been so bad. They scared me. They told me, 'Forget it. At 30, it's over for you.' And it has not been the case. It feels great to age in Hollywood."

Salma and 50-year-old Antonio also shared their pride at securing the lead roles in the 'Shrek' prequel and admitted as Hispanic actors they haven't always found it easy to find work in Tinsel Town.

Salma said: "When I started out, Hispanic roles were very limited. Roles were very limited. There were one or two kinds of characters you used to do. Now we get to play the cats! It's OK to be a Hispanic, even if you are a cat."

Antonio added: "I feel very proud, actually. I never pretended when I first went to Hollywood to be a guy from Oklahoma. I am what I am. And fortunately, the Spanish community in the United States has grown in the last 22 years that I have been there. There has been an explosion in Hollywood, which is a reflection of the society in which we live."