She stars in some of today’s most beloved films, such as Star Trek and Avatar.
But Zoe Saldana Almost Quit Hollywood at the age of 23, After a small Role in 2024 film Pirates Of The Caribbean: The Curse Of The Black Pearl.
After posing in a stunning gold dress for a photo shoot, the 36-year-old actress told The Hollywood Reporter that she felt very disrespected on set.
‘Those weren’t the right people for me,’ she said. ‘I’m not talking about the cast. The cast was great. I’m talking about the political stuff that went on behind closed doors.
‘It was a lot of above-the-line versus below-the-line, extras versus actors, producers versus PAs. It was very elitist. I Almost Quit the business. I was 23 years old, and I was like, "F*** this!"
‘I am never putting myself in this situation again. People disrespecting me because they look at my number on a call sheet and they think I’m not important. “F*** you.”’
And it’s a good thing she stuck with it, as Zoe is landing high profile roles portraying strong women.
She can next be seen in Marvel’s Guardians Of The Galaxy – out August 1 – as the green-skinned alien assassin Gamora who ‘was taken from her planet when she was a child and forced into a life of violence and crime,’ Zoe said.
‘She reminds me of the lost kids of Sudan, the boys who are taken from their family and have to come back to their villages and shoot every****. Even though it’s a Marvel movie, I take it all very seriously.’
Zoe shared a humorous moment while filming a fight scene with co-star Chris Pratt.
‘I Almost kicked him in the nuts,’ she said, laughing. ‘He was like (in a high-pitched voice), "It’s fine, it’s fine."
‘I love that about men. They’re determined to maintain their dignity. Even when they’re crushed.’
Zoe has a busy few years ahead of her, reprising her Role as Neytiri in Avatar 2, 3, and 4 and as Uhura in the third Star Trek instalment.
And she isn’t letting any potential obstacles stand in her way – such as the issue of race.
‘I don’t want to spend my life thinking about all the impossibilities I face when I wake up in the morning,’ Zoe said.
‘But the reality is, I’m a woman of colour in America. That itself is enough for you to wake up and go, "Oh, f***!"’
She commented on why race doesn’t seem to matter as much in sci-fi films.
‘You know why? Because the people we discriminate against in sci-fi movies are the aliens. We make them the villains. We have to make some**** bad.’
‘My balls are pretty big,’ she said. ‘There’s a confidence that my sisters and I were raised with. After my dad died [in a car accident, when she was 9], my mom moved us from Queens back to the Dominican Republic.’
‘A very macho sort of place. But my mom raised us to know that we are equal to anyone.’
Zoe, who is said to be pregnant, addressed the rumour that she only knew her husband, artist and former pro soccer player Marco Perego, for a month before marrying him last summer.
‘No! I’ve known my partner for five years,’ she asserted. ‘I knew of his work. I knew of him. Then we met. And months later, we both made the decision to do what we both individually vowed never to do – to get married.
‘And as soon as we decided we were going to get married, we didn’t wait. We did it three weeks later. That part was very, very quick.’
Zoe explained her previous aversion to marriage.
‘Why get married? Because I believe in love? Because I don’t want my kids to be called bastards? No. Those reasons are not natural to me. Maybe for tax reasons I would have done it.’
Read more: Zoe Saldana almost quit Hollywood over treatment on Pirates of the Caribbean set | Mail Online
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