The 50-year-old actress has revealed that when she first broke into the film industry, she was told by movie-maker Robert Rodriguez she should perform her own stunts if wanted to have a lengthy career in Hollywood.

Asked whether she’s learned anything new while making the action-comedy ‘The Hitman’s Bodyguard’, Salma said: “I had always done my stunts. Because, the first time I worked with Robert Rodriguez, he made me feel like, if you don’t do your stunts, people really look bad at you. In this business.

“Which is not true, at all. But that’s what I thought. But Robert’s crazy, he always wants to do everything himself. If he could’ve, he would’ve been doing my stunts too. He has just way too much energy. And, so, [he said] it makes you look bad if you don’t do it.”

Salma revealed her initial insistence on performing her own stunts led her to suffer a number of serious injuries, including two herniated discs.

The actress told Den of Geek: “They brainwashed me, and I always did my stunts. I really regretted it, because I have two herniated discs, a dislocated … I have so many health problems now because of all those stunts.

“And, I said I was so stupid. Of course, now that I’m older and wiser, I said ‘I’m not doing this. I’m not doing those stunts.’

“So they got a stunt double, and the stunt guys – who I knew, and I had worked with them in the past, and I was a legend, because I was actually really good at stunts – had said ‘so we obviously got you a stunt double now, because we don’t think you want to do this.’ And it just made me feel old.”