Salma Hayek wanted to play a more layered character in 'The Hitman's Wife's Bodyguard'.

The 54-year-old actress reprises her role as Sonia Kincaid in the action-comedy flick with her character playing a more prominent part than in predecessor 'The Hitman's Bodyguard' and discussed making her alter ego complex.

In an interview with ComicBook.com, she said: "I wanted to show the part that it's very maternal. I wanted to show the part where she really cares about her marriage, but at the same time, there's some issues that happen with time in a marriage and how she fights it and how she tries to keep him on top of things.

"Don't take her for granted, do not drop the romance. She's very demanding."

The 'Grown Ups' star explained how she relished the chance to portray a middle-aged female character in an action movie.

Salma said: "I also wanted to show the fact that, not because a woman goes into middle age, that means you stop being a badass. Not everything about a woman is, that their whole identity, about motherhood, we still have a lot to give, and a lot of dynamism inside of us.

"To have an action character that's a middle-aged person, for men, it's been okay for a long time, but, really, this is the first time it happens for a woman."

Hayek features alongside Ryan Reynolds and Samuel L. Jackson in Patrick Hughes' film and relished starring alongside the duo.

She said: "On one side, I would enjoy the talking scenes a lot more because I am working with two of the best actors in the world and we were completely free and we were improvising a lot of it.

"They're just magnificent. I was very aware of what a privilege I had to work with that level of talent and really enjoyed it.

"The action scenes actually did help a lot... it took away some of the rust and they were very helpful for what came after, which is 'The Eternals.'"