Salma Hayek ''was so worried'' she would never meet Mr. Right.

The 48-year-old actress, who has been married to Francois-henri Pinault since 2009, admits she previously went out with people she ''shouldn't have dated'' because she was so ''desperate'' to find her soulmate before meeting the 53-year-old French businessman.

The 'Tale of Tales' star said: ''I wish I knew [when I was younger] that I was going to fall crazy in love with the perfect man. I was so worried, and I dated some people I shouldn't have dated.

''You get desperate, and you start seeing wonderful things in, like, the wrong guys. I also found some pretty good guys. But I wish I could say to myself: 'Hey, chill out. You're going to get a great husband that's going to adore you.' I would have saved myself a lot of personal drama.''

Aside from acting and producing, the Mexican star, who has seven-year-old daughter Valentina with Francois-Henri, also has her own cosmetics line, but insists she puts her family first.

She told the August issue of Allure magazine: ''I've never been apart from my daughter for more than two weeks. And same with Francois. We don't separate for long periods of time. Never.''

Salma almost retired from acting after becoming a mother, but credits her husband for encouraging her to continue.

She said: ''He said something so beautiful, 'I don't want to be deprived of your work. I want to watch it, too. And the world has not seen the best of you yet. So you cannot stop until some of that is put out.' ''