Zoe Saldana’s next quest: Breaking out of sci-fi typecasting

The actress said she is keen to branch out of sci-fi
New roles: Zoe Saldana in her Campari short film
Alistair Foster30 January 2018
The Weekender

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Zoe Saldana says she fears being typecast as a sci-fi actress after roles in three of the genre’s biggest franchises.

The actress, 39, broke out in 2009 with parts as Lieutenant Uhura in Star Trek and Neytiri in James Cameron’s Avatar. She went on to win the role of Gamora in Marvel’s Guardians Of The Galaxy films.

Asked if being known for similar parts was a worry, she said: “Of course. There are so many roles that I would love to perform and if acting continues to make me happy I will continue to explore them.

“Science fiction is a genre that I have been obsessed with as a child and then it took on a whole new meaning for me as I started to grow in my career as an actor, because it provided the freedom in space that I couldn’t have on Earth.

Reaching for the stars: Zoe Saldana with Chris Pratt in Guardians Of The Galaxy

“I wasn’t expecting the films to be as massive as they were. I knew that they were special because they had special directors behind them and an interesting cast.

But the moment these films became blockbusters and then they became franchises they became completely out of my control.”

Saldana, who has three children under five with husband Marco Perego-Saldana, an Italian artist, is set to star in two Avatar sequels and will appear as Gamora in this year’s Avengers: Infinity War.

She said: “I can only be grateful that I find myself today as a working actor who can support myself and my family because of the choices that I’ve made.”

Sci-fi: Zoe Saldana in Avatar
20th Century Fox

Saldana, who was born in New Jersey, started out on stage and said she would love to star in the West End. She said: “Going back on stage would be a dream come true for me. I’m going to add [the West End] to my bucket list, because I should never have crossed it out in the first place. I’ll just have to wait for my kids to be a little older.”

The actress was speaking as she was unveiled as the face of the 2018 Campari Red Diaries short movie — The Legend Of Red Hand — in Milan, the birthplace of the aperitif. The film takes viewers around the world in the pursuit of the perfect Campari cocktail.

Saldana said: “My family is from Italy so it’s a great opportunity to get to be in Italy working with an Italian brand that has such a great history. The Italian culture is so close to my Latino heritage in terms of the way we do things — we are very festive cultures.”

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2, in pictures

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