Jimmy Fallon gets caked by Salma Hayek's 'La Mordida' tradition
Salma Hayek plunged Jimmy Fallon’s face into a cake — and yes, there’s a tradition behind it.
Jimmy Fallon wound up with frosting everywhere after Salma Hayek brought the Mexican birthday ritual La Mordida to The Tonight Show. After chatting about her recent milestone, she coaxed Fallon into taking the first hands-free bite of a cake—then pushed his head straight into it as the audience loudly chanted “mordida.”
Hayek explained the custom on air: the birthday person takes the first bite without using their hands, and then someone gives them a playful shove into the cake. She noted it’s part of the fun of Mexican birthdays, not just another cake-cutting moment.
The bit wasn’t just for TV. Hayek said she’d done La Mordida during her own 60th birthday festivities, and her daughter Valentina was the one who nudged her face toward the cake.
Without Blood with Jolie
The conversation then pivoted to Without Blood, the upcoming drama directed by Angelina Jolie. The two previously worked together in Marvel ’s Eternals, stayed close, and Jolie eventually approached Hayek about the new film.
"I didn't know if I was going to be-- I knew I would be good, but I didn't know if I was going to be good every day suffering, you know?,
Hayek said on The Tonight Show, adding that she initially turned the role down because it intimidated her. She ultimately signed on and found the shoot far less punishing than expected, crediting Jolie’s direction, her co-star, and a strong script —and said she grew to love the character.
Based on Alessandro Baricco’s novel, Without Blood stars Hayek as Nina, a woman shaped by the trauma of war. The film premiered at the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival and is scheduled for a theatrical release on September 18, 2026 .