Zoe Saldana covers the newest issue of Hollywood Reporter to promote her role as a green-skinned assassin in Guardians of the Galaxy. Before I hop into the interview, here’s an update on Zoe’s pregnancy. She’s reportedly three months pregnant, and some of you thought she looked further along at Monday’s premiere. There’s a good reason for that. E! news has spoken to multiple sources who say Zoe is pregnant with twins. Wow. Marco Perego had better buckle up. Twins are a huge undertaking. They just got married last year, and they have another big lifestyle adjustment coming their way. Zoe is reportedly “thrilled.” In about a year, she’ll be reportedly “exhausted.”
This interview is bitchy in a Zoe way. She calls out Hollywood elitism and “people disrespecting me.” Disrespect seems to be the theme of this press tour. She calls out Hollywood for not giving females roles other than accessory wives or girlfriends. I agree with Zoe on that point. She also goes off on the “political” nature of film sets, but really, most jobs are like that to a point. There are many other topics of discussion here. The reasons why she married Marco are interesting:
On her Pirates of the Caribbean movie: “Those weren’t the right people for me. 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.”
On being sci-fi eye candy: “That’s true of every genre. Eighty percent of what’s out there is told through the point of view of a male. I can sit down with so many filmmakers for so many projects and play so many actors’ girlfriends or wives. But in sci-fi, I can play Gamora. She was taken from her planet when she was a child and forced into a life of violence and crime. 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 everybody. Even though it’s a Marvel movie, I take it all very seriously.”
She almost broke Chris Pratt’s ribs: “I almost kicked him in the nuts. 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.”
On marrying Marco after a few months: “No! I’ve known my partner for five years. 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. Why get married? Because I believe in love? Because I don’t want my kids to be called bast-rds? No. Those reasons are not natural to me. Maybe for tax reasons I would have done it.”
Her mom mistook Thandie Newton for Zoe? “That’s true. She saw a poster for Crash and called me to ask me why I didn’t tell her I was in a movie with Matt Dillon. I’ve gotten Kerry Washington and Jada Pinkett, too, but mainly Thandie. People ask me if I’m offended that I’m confused with every other black actress out there. ‘Doesn’t it bother you that people think you’re all the same person?’ No. Because one time I entered a restaurant and there were all these beautiful blond girls around a table, probably all from Orange County. It felt like it might have been a high school reunion or something. There were like 20 beautiful girls, but they were all the same. I couldn’t tell any of them apart.”
Is Hollywood getting better about race? “I don’t want to spend my life thinking about all the impossibilities I face when I wake up in the morning. But the reality is, I’m a woman of color in America. That itself is enough for you to wake up and go, ‘Oh, f—!'”
Race doesn’t matter as much in sci-fi: “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 somebody bad.”
[From Hollywood Reporter]
I tried not to laugh at the part about Chris Pratt’s balls, which was hard because my inner 15-year-old found it funny. The stuff about “knowing” Marco for five years through his art is bizarre. Does Zoe really think she knew him incredibly well before even meeting him? One of his “best known works” is a creepy portrait of the Seven Dwarves. That painting is pretty tame. I googled and found a very NSFW piece of “art” that shows a topless Minnie Mouse getting choked. There’s another one that shows Peter Pan‘s Tinkerbell and Wendy uh … akimbo. You can find those for yourself. I guess now we know more about Zoe’s taste in art and how well she knew Marco before meeting him.
Here are some photos of Zoe at the UK Guardians premiere. Her dress is Valentino Resort.
Photos courtesy of Hollywood Reporter, Fame/Flynet & WENN
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