Salma Hayek spent 7 weeks isolated in a room battling COVID-19 because she refused to go to the hospital: 'I'd rather die at home'

• Salma Hayek revealed to Variety that she had COVID in the early days of the pandemic.
• It got so bad she had to be put on oxygen.
• "My doctor begged me to go to the hospital because it was so bad," she said. "I said, 'No, thank you."

Salma Hayek is revealing for the first time that she had COVID-19.

The Oscar-nominated actress spoke out about contracting the virus in a recent cover story for Variety, in which the trade reports that her condition was "near fatal." Hayek said she contracted the novel coronavirus in the early days of the pandemic last year.

"My doctor begged me to go to the hospital because it was so bad," Hayek, 54, told Variety's Marc Malkin. "I said, 'No, thank you. I'd rather die at home.'"

Instead "The Hitman's Bodyguard" star stayed in isolation in a room in her house for seven weeks. Though she didn't get into specifics on what her symptoms were, she said that at one point she was put on oxygen.

After recovering, the actress said she went back to work, shooting Ridley Scott's "House of Gucci" opposite Lady Gaga and Adam Driver. However, Hayek admitted it took a lot out of her despite the role taking up "not a lot of time."

"It was the perfect job to just get back into it," she told the trade. "I had started doing Zooms at one point, but I could only do so many because I would get so tired."

Hayek said to this day she still hasn't regained the energy she had before getting COVID-19, which has affected more than 33 million Americans since last year.

Hayek will be seen next in "The Hitman's Wife's Bodyguard," opposite Ryan Reynolds and Samuel L. Jackson, coming in June. She is also in Marvel's "Externals," opening in November. "House of Gucci" also come out that month.